New father-of-three Robbie Williams has announced he is missing some of the live shows of The X Factor due to prior work commitments. The singer, who is a judge on the panel alongside his wife Ayda Field, spoke to Dan Wootton and confirmed: "I'm gutted that I've got to go. Genuinely, genuinely gutted that I've got to go. It was all booked in before. I'm going to go off and do a few gigs in South America. I'm looking forward to going down there because I haven't been there forever, but if I'd have known, it wouldn't be happening. Put it that way."
Robbie's The Heavy Entertainment Show tour will take him to Chile on 5 November, followed by dates in Paraguay, Argentina and Mexico, wrapping up on 17 November. This means he is likely to miss three weeks of the live shows.
His brief departure from The X Factor was confirmed on the same day that Robbie and his wife Ayda revealed they have welcomed their third child. The announcement came as a big surprise to fans, who didn't know the couple were expecting. Ayda wrote on Instagram: "So we have been keeping a very special secret! We are delighted to share with you that we have had a baby girl…. welcome to the world Colette (Coco) Josephine Williams!! It has been a very long and difficult path to get here, which is why we have kept it on the down low."
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Robbie will be on tour during the X Factor live shows in November
Alongside the photo of their family's hands, including baby Coco's, Ayda revealed: "Family comes in all forms, and this little lady, who is biologically ours, was carried by an incredible surrogate mother, to whom we will be eternally grateful. We are over the moon to have this beautiful baby girl in our lives and so blessed that we live in a world which makes this possible. As with Teddy and Charlie, we ask that you respect Coco's privacy and allow us to grow into our new team of 5! #TeamWilliams."
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Robbie and Ayda have welcomed baby Coco
Robbie and Ayda, who tied the knot in 2010, also have a daughter Teddy, five, and a son Charlton, three. Their joyous baby news comes just weeks after they celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary. Their home and work lives are about to get very busy; not only will Robbie and Ayda be adjusting to life with baby Coco, they are also both mentoring and judging contestants on The X Factor, which returned to screens last week.
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