How did Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes meet and are they still friends?

Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes have been friends for decades, but how did the pair meet and are they still close?

Netflix's Robbie Williams was released last week, and fans were intrigued by many of Robbie's friendships and relationships that were depicted in the show. In particular, fans wanted to know about Robbie Williams and Nicole Appleton's brief relationship, Robbie and Ayda Field's marriage, and the relationship between Robbie and Guy Chambers, the singer's co-writer and producer.

In the later episodes, fans were also curious about Jonathan 'Jonny' Wilkes, who was introduced as the singer's best friend in, 'Part Three: Close Encounters.' In the episode, Robbie said, "Jonny is my best friend. He's a moving, walking, talking part of Stoke-on-Trent, that came with me everywhere that made me laugh and made me feel safe and made me feel that the part of me that existed before I joined Take That was still there."

Reveal by Chris Heath, £4.99 | Amazon

Robbie Williams's tell-all biography about his life following his groundbreaking memoir, Feel.

View Deal

In the documentary Johnny was depicted as rather down to earth and impressed with Robbie's fame."It's always weird when little ol' Rob gets up in front of all these people, and they just adore him. It's quite mad, yeah but it's his job and he's the best at it," said Jonny."Hey! Two lads from Stoke-on-Trent. Who's 'ave thunk?"

Speaking about the importance of having his friend on the tour with him, Robbie said in the documentary, "I had a great support system around me. I'd got David my manager, and I'd got Josie, and I'd got my mate Jonny. Good and honest people." 

But who is Jonathan Wilkes and how did he meet Robbie Williams?

Who is Jonny Wilkes

Jonathan Wilkes is Robbie Williams's close friend, but also has his own independent career outside of his relationship with the Take That singer. Jonny is a presenter who presented You've Been Framed! and worked for the BBC in the early noughties. 

The presenter had a brief singing career when he released Just Another Day in 2001. He has also appeared on the West End in shows such as; The Rocky Horror Show, Grease, We Will Rock You and Chicago. The presenter went on to create the Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts, which offers BTEC and Degree level courses in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre in Swindon. 

Jonathan married Nikki Wheeler in 2004, whom he met while working at the BBC. The pair have two sons named Mickey and Ralph, born in 2006 and 2017 respectively.

How did Jonathan Wilkes and Robbie Williams meet?

In an interview with Staffordshire Life, Jonny revealed that he and Robbie grew up in the same area and have been friends since they were children. "I'm proud to death of him - he's been my best mate all my life," said Jonny. "Our mums are best mates and we grew up together doing 'am dram'."

He revealed that the pair also lived together when Jonny first moved to London. "I was 20, and in my third season at Blackpool, when a chap called Kevin Bishop approached me. He ran the Royal Variety shows for the BBC and he was looking for a young presenter for the BBC Choice channel - now BBC3. He asked me to do it," said Jonny. "I wanted to move on and so said 'yes' to the move to London. My mate, Rob, said 'Come and live with me in my big mansion'."

"So, off I went to live with Robbie Williams in London and start my first TV job. That's where I met my wife, Nikki - at the BBC. I started to write records as well, and managed to get a record deal with Virgin and got paid very well!" he said.

The pair are still close friends. Per The Mirror, Jonny said of their friendship, "It does not matter if we have not spoken for months and months, we just go back to the old routine."