Why isn't Britain proud of me, asks Robbie

Robbie Williams has attacked Britain for failing to back his bid to crack the US.

And the singer – who played a festival in New York at the weekend after being invited by Robert De Niro – said he expected people at home to be more “proud” of his achievements.

In an interview for BBC3’s Liquid News to be screened tonight, Williams made it clear he was sick of negative attitudes towards his efforts across the Atlantic.

“Whether I sell records here or not I’m doing all right,” he said from New York.

“I think it’s weird how England has treated my so-called onslaught into America, you know. ‘Robbie will never do it, stop it, don’t even try’ and all that business. Come on England – get behind me.

“It’s such a shame that I could be, at the minute, one of the only people that could come over here and break it big. You’d think they’d be proud of me.

He added: “I’m aiming to be the biggest artist in the world without America on this album. That’s not to say that I’m giving up on this territory.”

Williams’s fifth album Escapology debuted at number 43 in the US charts last month – his highest position yet – before nosediving out of the top 100.

“It’s a big country and they don’t need acts like me,” Williams explained.