‘Wasn’t like this in the Nineties’: Robbie Williams begs for someone to recognise him in hilarious video

Pop star Robbie Williams was left in despair after Londoners failed to recognise him as he walked around London.

The former Take That singer was filmed by his wife Ayda in the amusing clip as he walked through Hyde Park with the expectation that he would be bombarded by fans.

However, the initial experiment failed drastically when no one noticed him, despite (as Williams pointed out) the fact that he was dressed in head-to-toe pink, with jewelled sunglasses.

Williams, 50, repeated the challenge two days later, wearing an American Football League jersey with his name on it, in the hopes that it might draw more attention.

But again, he was left disappointed.

“Absolutely nobody has recognised me, or bothered me, and I really need them to,” he said while Ayda filmed him.

As one child actively ran away from the star, he joked it “wasn’t like this in the Nineties.”

The “Angels” singer, who quit Take That in 1995 to embark on a successful solo career, had legions of adoring fans and would be mobbed in the streets during the peak of his fame.

Describing the rationale behind wearing the football shirt with his name on, Williams said: “You know what I want to happen ... if people are sort of like, ‘What’s that?’ and then they turn around and it says ‘Robbie’ on the back, they’ll know that it’s me.”

Williams is due to headline British Summer Time (BST) festival in Hyde Park on 6 July, as part of a string of events that also features Stevie Nicks, Shania Twain and SZA.

“I would lose my mind if I saw Robbie Williams sitting on a public bench,” wrote one fan in response to the video.

Another added, “What’s wrong with these people? I’d be hysterical.”

“For God’s sake, where are all those fans throwing bras at you in the ‘90s?” questioned another.

“Stop filming me, because I don’t want the attention to happen because someone’s being filmed,” said the singer seriously as his wife recorded the journey.

Williams celebrated being “back in the game” when a restaurant worker finally recognised him from his social media experiment.

“I saw the post. I can’t believe nobody recognised you,” said Paula as she stood outside Rosso restaurant in London.

As the interaction drew attention from other members of the public, Williams was able to have his happy ending as several people asked him for selfies and he said, “Back in the game” and “Jackpot”.

The star did a celebratory dance as his wife reassured him saying, “There you go”.