Robbie Williams delayed the release of his new album because he “can’t compete” with Taylor Swift.
The former Take That star had been due to debut his record BRITPOP on October 10 – just a week after Taylor’s much-anticipated album The Life of a Showgirl drops – but he pushed the release back to February 2026 and now the singer has admitted he made the move because the Shake It Off singer would have blocked him from topping the charts.
During an intimate show at London’s Dingwalls venue, Robbie previewed songs from his new album and told the crowd he wanted to avoid releasing it at the same time as Taylor’s latest offering. He said: “We’re all pretending it’s not about Taylor Swift, but it f****** is. You can’t compete with that.”
He added: “Here’s the truth: I want 16 Number One albums. Taylor then decided to put her album out the same weekend as me.
“I was like: ‘For f***’s sake! I’ll put it out the next week’, and they were like: ‘She does these other deluxe versions’. I was like: ‘F****** hell! Can I put it out the week after that then?’
“They were like: ‘Oasis might be around then ‘ … ‘For f***’s sake! Let’s do it in f****** February when no one’s got an album out’.”
Robbie went on to say: “I was worried about making you all f****** wait, and then I was like: ‘F*** it! I want a 16th Number One album!’
“I’m sorry, but I’m f****** being selfish. How many times in your life do you get to have the most Number One albums the UK’s ever f****** had?”
A source previously told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column that Robbie moved the album release date because he didn’t want to jeopardise his chances of breaking chart records .
The insider said: “Robbie will go down in the history books if he scores another No1 he’s not taking any chances.
“Taylor is undoubtedly the biggest artist in the world right now and her first-week sales are sure to eclipse any other artist who has released a record in recent years.
“The sales will still be Âmassive in the second week, so Robbie and his team decided it’s better to just move the release date.
“The new date in February has actually opened up loads more exciting opportunities, so there will be a lot happening in the New Year.”