'I've got arthritis in my back... but I've got to do something on stage': Robbie Williams reveals painful condition has affected his ability to dance

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His live performances are a heady mix of greatest hits and high energy dance routines, but Robbie Williams reveals he has scaled back the choreography after being diagnosed with arthritis.

The former Take That star, 42, admits the painful condition has prompted significant changes to his lifestyle and affected his ability to indulge in two of his greatest passions – dancing and football.

‘I’ve got arthritis in my back so I can’t put my foot through a ball,’ he told the Evening Standard. ‘I have very tight hamstrings, barely existent calves. I dance like a drunk dad at a wedding. But I’ve got to do something to fill the time on stage.’

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Painful: Robbie Williams has made changes to his lifestyle after being diagnosed with arthritis in his lower back 

Robbie shared his condition on the eve of World Arthritis Day, which gives sufferers the opportunity to air their experiences in living with the common condition – an inflammation and swelling of the joints.

Away from the stage Robbie is settled into a domesticated home life with wife Ayda Field and their two children, Teddy, four, and two-month old Charlie.   

But while his wild days are all behind him, he admits he still fights urges to take certain substances.

Restricted: The former Take That star, 42, admits the painful condition has prompted significant changes to his lifestyle and affected his ability to do indulge in two of his greatest passions – dancing and football

The singer, who is about to release his eleventh solo album, said he no longer wants to drink alcohol or take cocaine but is still tempted by ecstasy.  

In an interview with The Sun, he confessed: 'I don't want to drink and I don't want to take coke, I'm really pleased I don't take coke but I do think about ecstasy.'

The Party Like a Russian singer - who has children Teddy, four, and Charlton, 23 months, with wife Ayda Field, 37, - still suffers from anxiety but is usually able to successfully keep his struggles hidden from the public.

He said: 'There is only a two-minute window that people see into my life - four or five if I'm on Graham Norton, making a video or on stage. 

Staying strong: Former drug addict Robbie Williams has admitted he still fights urges to take certain substances

On the prom trail: Robbie dropped by French radio station NRJ in Paris on Thursday

Happy! Robbie looked in high spirits, smiling in his all-black ensemble

Mr popular: The pop star looked to go down a treat among the station's staff

'That is the golden panto that is my life. You put yourself in the best light possible when you can for the short amount of time. It's the Facebook life - but I still suffer from anxiety.'

Robbie also opened up about how he went to counselling while recording his latest album - Heavy Entertainment Show - because he suffered a crisis of confidence about having to promote himself and the record around the world.

His said his job would be stressful even if he was a sound person, but described himself as the opposite of that. 

Addict: The singer (pictured in 1995) went into rehab in 2007 after taking speed, acid, heroin, cocaine and 'heart-stopping' amounts of prescription drugs 

Cleaned up his act: The Party Like a Russian singer - who has children Teddy, four, and Charlton, 23 months, with wife Ayda Field, 37 (pictured in Cannes, France, in May 2015)

Party days: Robbie (pictured in Cologne, Germany in 2000)  admitted he no longer wants to drink alcohol or take cocaine but is still tempted by ecstasy

Robbie has previously admitted he was just '24 hours away from death' at the height of his addiction, which saw him taking a dangerous cocktail of drugs.

He said in 2009: 'I would do 20 Vicodin in a night. I might have been 24 hours away from dying. Then I'd take Adderall, which was like speed for people with ADHD. I'd be doing colossal, heart-stopping amounts of that.

'You can buy Sativa, which is basically LSD for five minutes. It's powerful stuff. That's where I was. You try your best to balance them off against each other but you never manage it. 

'It was the American addiction. Prescription pills. It wasn't the best period of my life. You see Anna Nicole Smith goes off - pills. Michael Jackson goes off - pills. And Heath Ledger. I can relate to all of that.'

But the pop star admitted his battle with drugs started when he was just a teenager.

Entertainer: The singer (pictured in 2006 before checking into rehab) previously admitted he was just '24 hours away from death' at the height of his addition

He said during the 2009 interview: 'When I started going clubbing at 16 we were on acid. Then acid and speed. Then it progressed into cocaine.. Before the acid, heroin. I did that once.

'I was 19 and went to the MTV Awards and did some Ephedrine [a stimulant], coke, E's.'

Robbie was admitted to a clinic in Arizona in 2007, on his 33rd birthday.

In 2015, the father-of-two spoke candidly about his struggles with drugs and mental illness, confessing during a press conference: 'In 2006, I went on a world tour and I ended up doing rehab and I decided that I was going to retire.   

'I didn't tell anybody because I knew that it was b******s and I was second guessing myself that I really hadn't retired, so I spent three years retired and it's taken me a long time to come back.'  

The Better Man singer shot to fame at the tender age of 16 after joining infamous boyband Take That, and soon took to a wild life of debauchery and drugs which eventually saw him depart the band on bitter terms.

On Thursday, Robbie dropped by Parisian radio station NRJ and looked in high spirits as he posed with staff for selfies. 

Doting father: Robbie with his baby daughter, Theodora Rose, curled up asleep on his chest in 2012