AceShowbiz - Robbie Williams refuses to officially convert to Judaism as he hates the idea of being circumcised. Raised Catholic, the 49-year-old "Angels" singer toyed with the idea of changing his religion - because his Turkish-American wife Ayda Field, 43, and their four children are Jewish - before he realised what a long and potentially painful process it was, and joked he has now just decided to "self-identify" as a Jew.

"I am a Catholic who has distanced herself from religion, and (Ayda) is a Jew who has distanced herself from religion," Robbie, educated at a Roman Catholic School, told Israeli news site Walla. "But it is important that we have a tribe. It's important to have a sense of belonging. You know, I feel more Jewish than I feel Catholic. I even looked into the possibility of converting but it just takes too long, so I decided to just identify myself as a Jew."

When Robbie's interviewer told him male converts traditionally undergo circumcision, Robbie joked, "No, no, no, I'll just identify myself as a Jew." He clarified about self-identification by referring to non-binary singer Sam Smith, "I can just imagine already the headlines, 'Robbie Williams identifies as a Jew.' And suddenly I'm Sam Smith. Which is fine for Sam Smith. I identify as a Jew but I also identify as Cristiano Ronaldo!"

Robbie, who has children Theodora, 10, Charlton, eight, Colette, four, and three year old Beau with Ayda, previously told The Sun about how he has used religion to get through hardship. He said about praying when he "convinced" himself he had Covid during the global lockdowns.

"I could feel my body was getting lethargic and tired and heavy and I convinced myself I'd got coronavirus. I never normally do it but I got down on my knees and prayed. Within 30 seconds I had lifted my vibration and was in love. You know what? The symptoms went away and the fear went away. I've now safeguarded myself against lower energies, against feelings of worthlessness."