Nicole Appleton supports ex Robbie Williams at Better Man premiere - despite 'difficult' romance

Robbie Williams' ex-girlfriend All Saints star Nicole Appleton supported him at his premiere of Better Man, which depicts 'difficult' scenes about their relationship

Robbie Williams and his ex-girflriend Nicole Appleton reunited at the premiere for his new film, Better Man, which features a “difficult” dramatisation of their relationship.

The couple dated on and off between 1997 and 1999, and even Robbie’s wife Ayda admits he was a “crappy boyfriend” to the All Saints star, who has previously “wept” watching the film.

But speaking on the red carpet, Robbie, 50, said he was “embracing getting older” and was “happier” in his 50s, while the film depicted his more challenging formative years, chronicling his departure from Take That as well as his past loves.

The musical film is based on the true story of the rise, fall and return of Robbie, who is portrayed by a CGI chimpanzee. During their turbulent relationship, Nicole fell pregnant and had an abortion, which is covered in the film.

Writing in her 2002 autobiography, Nicole previously said: “I couldn’t believe what I had done. I wanted to kill myself. Afterwards, everyone pretended it hadn’t happened.” Robbie has previously said it “tore him apart”.

Holly Willoughby, 43, who is close friends with Nicole, 49, also attended the European premiere of Better Man at London’s Odeon Luxe Leicester Square to support her friend.

Robbie's wife Ayda said she is “comfortable” with him including so many details of his past relationship with Nicole. “Well it’s part of his story,” she said. “I was comfortable with it. Listen you can’t edit out the past. We all have exes. I have exes. I am not a jealous type and she seems lovely. I don’t know her well.”

She added of her husband, who she wed in 2010: “God…he was kind of a crappy boyfriend. I had no problem with it. I am very proud of him being honest. I am grateful he is going to tell his story and not just sugar coat it.

“I would have tried to rescue Rob when he was younger but he would have totally cocked it up. So I think I met him at the right time. But I am always going to try and rescue him. He’s going to rescue me back.”

Director Michael Gracey spoke of Robbie’s regrets about the relationship at the premiere, and revealed Nicole was integral to the film’s development, telling the Mirror: “I think Robbie has a great deal of affection for Nicole and I think he has a great deal of regret that he has for how he behaved at the time.

“He was very protective of her. He didn’t want any part of that story told unless Nicole was onboard. She was asked about the film. I showed her the very first draft of the script. She was involved all the way through. She watched many versions.

“I don’t think it is making excuses... maybe making amends yeah. That is a beautiful way to look at it. I think we have all behaved badly in the past. I think we have all said things we regret. I think the difference is that Rob is willing to put that on the big screen which I think is incredibly brave.”

Robbie previously said he found scenes depicting his former relationship with All Saints singer Nicole Appleton “the most difficult bits” to watch in his new semi-autobiographical film Better Man.

The musical film is based on the true story of the rise, fall and return of British musician Williams, who is portrayed by a CGI chimpanzee. "I think the bits with Nicky Appleton are the most difficult bits because everybody else in the movie was villainous in my life in some way or another, and she’s the only person that didn’t do me any harm,” Robbie told the One Show.

"So when I watched that, I feel a sense of shame that I was her idiot boyfriend at the time. She didn’t deserve that, she’s a good person.”

The pair’s on-and-off relationship between 1997 and 1999 is dramatised in the film. Robbie has been married to Ayda Field since 2010 and the couple share four children together, Teddy, 11, Charlie, nine, Coco, six, and Beau, four.

Nicole went on to marry Oasis rocker Liam Gallagher from 2008 until 2014, having been in a relationship with him since 2000. They share a son, Gene, while Nicole also has a daughter, Skipper Hudson Haines, with partner Stephen Haines.

Robbie chose to portray himself as a chimp, explaining: “I love eccentricity and I love unusual and I love surreal, and it made complete sense to me as soon as he pitched it to me.”

Better Man is directed by The Greatest Showman filmmaker Michael Gracey, who told of Williams’ role in convincing Hugh Jackman about the music in the hit film. “Hugh, the whole time we were working on The Greatest Showman, kept referencing Rob, he could choose any showman on the face of the planet and every reference was Robbie Williams,” said Michael.

“So when I needed help convincing him about the music, I got Rob to do a video telling Hugh that the music was great, and it’s what convinced Hugh to move forward with the music that we had which is the music in the film today.”

Better Man is set for release on December 26 in the UK.

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