WENN

Robbie Williams' heavy drug taking almost drove the pop star to suicide after becoming freaked out by what he thought was a haunted house.

The Angels hitmaker, who has been open about his previous drink and drug demons, recalls one particularly low point during his youth when his cocaine habit spiralled out of control, and made him paranoid about paranormal activity while he was living with a former girlfriend in Primrose Hill, London.

"Instantly I picked up on it (the house) being weird and dark and having an energy," he told presenter Jo Wood on her Alien Nation podcast. "The first time it manifested itself as something physical the ghetto blaster (boombox) came on.

"I was doing a lot of coke at the time. I would be in the house but hear footsteps go up the stairs. It got progressively worse. (His girlfriend at the time) thought it was her granddad."

Robbie would jump in the car to try and escape the strange occurrences, but he became convinced the ghost was following him around – and it made him seriously consider taking his own life to free him of the spirit.

"I would get in the car and whatever it was would jump in the backseat," he continued. "Two months in, I couldn't deal with it any more. I thought, 'If this (ghost) stays with me, I was going to commit suicide (sic).'"

The singer finally decided to relocate to a hotel after one too many spooky experiences.

"I got up one day, and there was a dark mist at the end of my bed," Robbie said. "I was too scared to go and brush my teeth as I would have to walk through this mist. I just said to my girlfriend at the time: 'I am going now, are you going to come with me?' We went to the Swiss Cottage Marriott hotel."

Robbie was finally able to shake the ghostly feeling, and even told a label representative just how close he had come to ending his own life over the scary presence, which had seemingly manifested itself whenever he went on a coke binge.

"I was speaking to my A&R (artists and repertoire) guy, I was explaining to him about what had happened and I said, rather dramatically, 'If it had stayed with me, I would have had to kill myself.'"

Robbie ended up kicking his substance abuse habit after seeking treatment in rehab in 2007, and has since become a father-of-three with his wife, actress Ayda Field.