Robbie Williams addresses his unusual hand sanitiser rituals

The former Take That singer took to Instagram to respond to criticism he received.

Hours before Mariah Carey made a fine mess of ushering in 2017 in Times Square in New York, Robbie Williams performed live from Central Hall in Westminster, London. As he performed, the footage followed the 42-year-old wading into the crowd during the gig, singing Auld Lang Syne and shaking hands with various members of the audience. After returning to the stage, the cameras filmed a grimacing Robbie, looking extremely grossed out, absolutely covering his hands in anti-bacterial gel.

Can we all talk about #RobbieWilliams using hand sanitizer after touching his fans hands? pic.twitter.com/Gr8lgjt4bW

— Mia (@mia_qs) January 1, 2017

The singer received a serious backlash following his expression after shaking hands with the public.

And through it all she offers me protection, hand sanitiser and affection #RobbieWilliams #nye2017

— vicki_magson (@vicki_magson) January 1, 2017

Lol at #RobbieWilliams putting hand sanitiser on his hands after shaking hands with the public #HAPPYNEWYEAR

— Kiran (@KiranRajasansi) January 1, 2017

As Robbie's actions after shaking people's hands seemed a little extreme, the British singer took to his wife's Instagram to royally take the p*ss out of all his appalled fans. His wife, Ayda Field filmed Robbie hugging a relative before using hand sanitiser, showing his seriously cheeky side in the best way possible to explain his sanitiser gaffe.

Wiping the slate clean for 2017 @robbiewilliams #? #instafun #instagood #cleanslate #familyfunday

A video posted by Ayda Field Williams (@aydafieldwilliams) on Jan 2, 2017 at 8:01am PST

New year, new sanitiser eh Robbie?