Robbie Williams responds to viral World Cup moment with cheeky explanation: ‘Deeply unprofessional’

Robbie Williams has broken his silence about the now viral moment when a mysterious white object fell onto his microphone during a World Cup final interview.

While social media users quickly speculated the item had fallen from his nose and theorised it may have been a recreational drug, Williams, 52, responded with a tongue-in-cheek video captioned, “Just woke up and feeling … Mint.”

It turns out, the object had actually fallen from his mouth – which he had obviously been trying to keep minty fresh.

Beginning as if he were about to make a serious confession video, Williams said he wanted to apologise for the gaffe.

“It was deeply unprofessional and people were worried about me,” he joked. “But it’s OK because I had several more.”

He then smiled and opened his mouth to reveal more mints on his tongue.

The viral interview followed Williams’ appearance during the tournament’s closing ceremony, where he sang the official FIFA anthem, Desire, alongside Nicole Scherzinger and Laura Pausini.

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Williams was unfazed as the mint fell out of his mouth during the live TV moment, simply picking it off the microphone without even a break in his speech.

His explanation allayed fan concerns that the white object was a sign Williams was no longer sober.

He has been open about his struggles with addiction and drug abuse.

Williams has publicly entered rehab twice, first in 1995 after he left boy band Take That and again in 2007 on what was his 33rd birthday.

“I was a fully fledged, fully blown, self-medicating addict,” he recalled of the ’90s during a 2022 interview with The Irish Times.

“So unfortunately, it wasn’t a lot of fun – which is why I’m a sober person right now.”