'I'm travelling 1,000 miles to watch Robbie Williams'

This year is already shaping up to be a big one for Robbie Williams - from breaking Beatles chart records to trying to call a superfan after she appeared in a Netflix documentary about his old group, Take That.

Now the singer is back on the road and thousands of people are set to travel hundreds of miles to see him - some of his biggest superfans have told us why:

"I feel he's one of the most sensitive and beautiful souls in the world."

Liga Bri has travelled more than 1,000 miles (1,609km) from her home in Latvia to be able to see her hero, Robbie Williams, in concert.

"Over time I connected more and more with him as a person - his struggles, his story," she told me.

On Friday, she saw Williams in Liverpool as part of his Long 90's tour and, on Monday, she will be seeing the star performing at The Halls in Wolverhampton - her 22nd time singing along as he belts out the hits.

She was even called on stage once during a concert in Lithuania, as part of a tour where Williams picked a different woman at every show to call up and dedicate She's the One to, in front of the whole audience.

Her love of the Stoke-on-Trent star dates back to 1997, when she was 14 and the first album she ever bought on cassette was his debut, Life Thru a Lens.

"At the time I thought he was really handsome and cool, because he wasn't like everyone else," Bri said.

Almost three decades later and her love for Williams is unwavering, with lyrics from her favourite song of his - Love My Life - tattooed on her arm.

The tattoo is particularly special as Williams himself wrote the words on her.

"I had a meet and greet with him in Lithuania in 2017," Bri said.

"It was quite a sad and dark period in my life so I wanted to tattoo those lyrics to remind me life can be beautiful - and I was so happy he agreed to write them."

While the saying goes to never to meet your heroes, the 43-year-old disagrees, saying Williams was very down to earth.

Also making the journey from Latvia is Edite Kirse, who became friends with Bri through their mutual love of the star.

Kirse, 40, has been a fan of Williams since she was a teenager and found his "bad boy image" appealing.

"I think the whole aura of Robbie Williams at that time was truly spectacular," she told me from Latvia.

Williams is an escape for Kirse, who said life as a parent of a special needs child was tough for her.

She recently saw him perform in Riga and ran to the front row, saying it was "an absolute energy supercharge."

At 66, the adoration of Robbie Williams remains undimmed for Rita Gulrajani, who admits she is crazy about him.

She said: "Now I've given up work, I spend my life chasing Robbie and the boys around!"

She will travel from north London to see Williams in Wolverhampton but has ventured across the globe to follow the star.

"I've seen him in Las Vegas, Athens, Krakow and Dublin. I go wherever I can," she said, adding she was unable to remember just how many concerts she had been to.

She has met him several times and he even hugged and congratulated her for her birthday.

"I've always been a fan of Robbie. When he was first around, I had young kids. I was not a crazy fan like I am now because I had young kids," Gulrajani said.

The 66-year-old has also made close friends through mutual love of the singer, including one who has a Williams-themed tattoo.

Like the other fans I spoke to, Gulrajani said one of the reasons she became entranced by the star was his down to earth persona.

"[It's] his normality – he's not like a star, he behaves like a normal person," she said.

"The things he goes through, he's quite upfront what's happened in his life and his music is very relatable."

Speaking about his concerts, she said: "It's my happy place. It's just pure escapism."

Michelle Power, a nurse from Corby, Northamptonshire, has been to about 30 concerts and previously made her husband camp out with her at Wembley before his performances.

She even met Williams at a meet and greet in Las Vegas in 2019 and also travelled to see him in Madrid.

When asked why she loved Williams, Power said: "I think it's just his personality and the way he wears his heart on his sleeve.

"He's amazing, he's a great performer, great singer, he puts on a great show.

"He's great with fans, he really cares for them.

"He goes out before and after [a show] to meet them – not many people do."

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