take thatTake That have revealed they have a shared guilt about not noticing that Robbie Williams was going off the rails before he quit the then-boyband.

Robbie left the band in July 1995 after developing alcohol and substance abuse problems as a way to deal with depression and feelings of frustration. His problems continued after he left the group and he spent time in rehab in 1997.

Speaking to Q magazine recently, his bandmates revealed that in hindsight, they could have, and should have, helped him earlier.

Gary Barlow explained there were a “series of events we should have spotted”: “That’s my one regret. I missed the signs. I think we all did.”

“Rob would go to Dublin or somewhere and get off his head. Then he’d come home and say: ‘I haven’t slept for two days.’ He didn’t want to go home and face his mum so he’d come to me first.”

Howard Donald added: “I spoke to Rob about it last summer. I said I was sorry I never took the time to notice he was drinking a bottle of vodka a day.

“We smoked weed and giggled like idiots. Before Take That I dabbled with drugs … LSD mainly.

“But Robbie was different. He has a more addictive personality, maybe, and he was unhappy.”

The group only lasted a year after Robbie’s departure but reformed - without Robbie - to huge success in 2005. Both they and Robbie have hinted that he may rejoin them at some point though - once he gets through his next solo project.

Gary added: “He’s one of us still, so I feel sorry for him and my natural instinct is to help him. His life could be better.”