2257“This question has been said to me well over a hundred times,” says Robbie Williams in his audio clip. Yes, that really is his name.

”It’s happened mainly in Turkey, in Istanbul. It’s always strangers, they come up on the ferry – I live on the Asian side and I have to travel over for work.

”They’ll just sit down and say ‘What’s your name, where you from?’ because they know I’m not Turkish. I don’t look Turkish.

”Because I’m from Wales I cannot bring myself to say I’m from England. Because I’m not. But unfortunately, internationally, everyone knows that island of Wales, Scotland, Ireland as England.

”So I say Wales. And they say ‘What?’ because nobody knows Wales. So time and again and again this happens. So I say the Turkish word, but the problem is they’re not expecting to hear Turkish from a foreigner. So they don’t know what I mean.

”And they say this to me. And I’m almost crying by this time, so I say: ‘Yep. I’m from Canada.’”

Taken in Besiktas, Istanbul on the SOTM World Tour.