Robbie Williams 'gutted' Radio 1 won't play his singles

The singer was declared irrelevant to Radio 1's young audience earlier this year

Robbie Williams has said he's 'gutted' Radio 1 won't play his singles (Getty Images)

Robbie Williams has said he is "gutted" that Radio 1 no longer plays his records.

The singer said: "I'm very ambitious. So when Radio 1 is taken away from you, a huge bit of your arsenal goes. It's your main oxygen to get your stuff out there."

His comments follow Radio 1's decision to pull his number one single "Candy" from its playlist last year.

Williams' latest single with Dizzee Rascal "Goin' Crazy", however, was played on the station.

Radio 1 breakfast DJ Nick Grimshaw previously said Williams, 39, was "not relevant" to the station's target audience of 15-29 year-olds.

Grimshaw told Five News: "To 13 and 14-year-olds he's not relevant… they've got One Direction. I liked Take That when I was little, but I'm not little anymore."

Williams, who is no stranger to controversy, later hit out at Radio 1's snub at the Sony Radio Awards.

He said on stage: "I did the Brits and started singing, 'Hey-ho, here we go' to a bunch of industry people and they were all like, f*** off, you're fat and you're old. And Radio 1 don't play you no more [sic] – you're fat and you're old."

Speaking today on Radio 4's Mastertapes programme, Williams admitted he was jealous of younger stars who are guaranteed airplay, including One Direction's Harry Styles.

"He's talented, he's good looking. He could have it away. And I'll be sat here saying 'damn him,'" he said.

He continued: "Everybody who's anybody has been competitive and over-sensitive and a bit silly.

"Look at Paul McCartney, look at Elton John. They're jealous of Justin Timberlake. I'm sure they were jealous of me when I was in my imperial phase."

Ben Cooper, Radio 1 controller, appointed Grimshaw as breakfast DJ last September in a bid to regain the station's appeal to 15-29 year olds, after the average age of its audience rose to 32.