WORRIED superstar ROBBIE WILLIAMS was last night praying for his own Angel as his mother battled to recover from a major heart operation.
Robbie, 34, secretly dashed back to Britain from his home in Los Angeles to be with his doting mum Jan, 67, when she went into hospital for heart bypass surgery.

The singer is extremely close to Jan, who is believed to be the inspiration behind his smash hit Angels.

The song is one of Robbie’s biggest hits and sold two million copies when released in 1997.

Jan was said to be in a “critical but stable” condition last night, a few hours after undergoing surgery.

Devoted Robbie will not be able to visit her until she leaves intensive care — but is expected to spend Christmas Day in hospital with her as she begins the long process of recovery.

A source said: “Like any patient who has undergone major heart surgery, Jan’s not out of the woods yet. She is in a critical but stable condition, but that’s normal for such a complex procedure.


Urgency

“Jan was put in intensive care immediately after the operation, where she’ll be monitored extremely closely.
She will almost certainly spend Christmas Day in hospital, but if all goes well she might be discharged by New Year.

“Robbie is desperate to make sure everything goes exactly to plan.”

Jan was admitted to a private hospital in Cheshire on Saturday, and it is understood she had her operation yesterday morning after Robbie had jetted back in time to wish her well.

The source added: “It’s highly unusual for this type of surgery to be carried out at this time of year. Private patients can pretty much pick and choose their operation dates so it’s likely there was some urgency in this case.

“If there are no complications Jan will be released on to a specialist cardiac ward on Monday, and Robbie may be able to visit her as early as then. The doctors will assess her progress on a daily basis to make sure her recovery is going well. But any major surgery carries risks and Robbie will be understandably concerned for his mum. It won’t be an easy Christmas for him.”



Inspiration ... Jan and angel statue

Jan, a drink and drugs counsellor, brought up Robbie as a single mum after his dad Peter walked out when he was just two.

She later spotted an advert for auditions that would set her son on the road to worldwide fame with TAKE THAT.

Robbie — who has a sister, Sally, 42 — once said: “I can’t wish for anything more than I’ve got with my mum and sister. What I’ve got is fantastic.”

He has regularly flown Jan to LA and bought her a £1.2million home and Andy Warhol masterpieces as thank you gifts.

Bypass surgery is usually performed on patients with angina or coronary heart disease, where arteries to the heart become narrowed or blocked by fatty tissue.

Surgeons graft a new blood vessel between the aorta and the affected artery, bypassing the blocked section.

New techniques include “stenting”, where a tube-shaped mesh is inserted into the artery to hold open a narrowed section.

Many patients recuperate quickly — sitting up and talking to visitors within a couple of days — but on average it takes three months to fully recover from the op.

Back in September we announced that top Dutch DJ Sander van Doorn had given Robbie's We're The Pet Shop Boys a whole new sound, and we even gave you an mp3 edit of the track.

Now we're extremely excited to tell you that Close My Eyes: Sander van Doorn vs Robbie Williams will be released in January! It will be available as a digital download, exclusively from iTunes, from 4th January with a full release everywhere else on 19th January.

Check out the pictures below to whet your appetite, then make sure you head over to RobbieWilliams.com to take a look at the full video.

He's been in the wilderness, but now Robbie Williams is looking to quickstep back to stardom. The Robster fancies his cha-cha-chances of wowing Britain with some fancy footwork on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Robbie, 34, has his sights set on the Saturday night show when he returns to the UK - although he seems a bit confused by the exact name.
Talking about his imminent comeback, Robbie says: "You can expect me on Celebrity Come Dancing towards the end of summer next year."
Robbie is currently packing up his gear in LA and getting ready to move back to the UK next week. And, by the sounds of it, he's ready for a spot of hard work.
As well as plotting his way on to the Strictly set, his main priority for 2009 is to finish off his new solo album before any reunion with Take That goes ahead. "I'm going into the studio at the end of January to get it ready," he says. "If I could get it out quicker I would. These things take time though and I'm not very good at waiting." Robbie admits on his website at robbiewilliams.com that he is desperate to quit LA after five years because he is missing the wind and rain of the UK.
He said: "I had to go away, how could anybody miss you when you're always there?
"But I've had enough here for now. It was my recent trip to England that did it. I felt plugged in. Roots! I really miss it.

"For all its crap weather, I need to be among Brits again. That's not a slight to my current hosts, indeed I've been to some wonderful places and met some amazing folk here in the US.
"It's just that Los Angeles isn't America, if you catch my drift?
"Back in Blighty I listened to the radio in the car, watched what and who was on the telly and then it all came back.
"Ambition that is - I wanted to put an album out the next day."
Good to hear it, Rob.
We can't wait to let you entertain us.