A 16-year-old clip of James Corden appearing on Lily Allen's BBC chat show has resurfaced, after the pop singer labelled the Gavin and Stacey actor and co-writer a 'beg friend'.
In 2008, James, 45, took the hot seat on Lily Allen and Friends to promote the latest series of Gavin and Stacey - and publicly flirted with the host.
After Lily, 39, acknowledged his flirtations and commented on his 'dazzling eyes', James said, 'We've met once, maybe twice, but on my life, truly, I don't think you know how lovely you are.'
Fast forward to 2024, and Lily referenced the interaction on the latest episode of her Miss Me? podcast with best friend and co-presenter Miquita Oliver. The duo were having a conversation about 'beg friends', and when Lily was asked whether she had any 'actually famous beg friends', she replied with candour.
'Yeah, James Corden was a bit of a beg friend for me,' she said. 'James came on my chat show and was very flirtatious with me, and we sort of made friends, and I introduced him to a group of my friends.'
But Lily joked that the same couldn't be said for James today. She told listeners, 'I’d say if I’ve ever had a famous beggy friend it was James Corden, back in the day. He’s not begging me anymore. I’m not begging him either. I can’t do anything for him now. He’s good.'
What is a beg friend?
The slang phrase 'beg friend' is defined by Urban Dictionary as: 'someone who kisses a**e, sucks up, compliments someone to be in their good books as it will benefit them in the present and the near future. They must do what they can to gain your friendship.'
The term was also the focus of a BBC article in 2018 centred around Mother's Day. A beg friend was defined in this instance as, 'A friend who begs for your attention, who wants to hang around with you, but you don't really want to hang around with, and spends all their money on you, just for your friendship.'
Has James Corden responded to the 'beg friend' remark?
James has allegedly responded to Lily claims that he was a 'beg friend' in the late noughties, calling the singer's comments 'tacky'.
An insider told The Daily Mail that James thinks Lily 'was a bit of a t**t' to have said anything at all.
The source claimed, 'When Lily recently talked s**t about him, to James it was just another day in his life, just another hater. He thought for Lily to bring up their past was tacky and that she was a bit of a t**t to have said anything at all.'
James also wrote about Lily in his 2011 memoir, May I Have Your Attention, Please.
On Miss Me? Lily admitted that the period of time she referred to James being a 'beg friend' is a 'bit hazy' but she refuted 'leading him on' - which she voiced thinking he had mentioned in his book.
Well, James did recall a certain encounter in his autobiography where he'd 'misread the signs' between them. He explained that he went out with Lily 'four or five times' after his chat show appearance - but it was never 'a proper date'.
Then 'reality dawned on him' when he was hanging out with Lily and her friends at her home. After she said she was going to bed, she showed James the guest room and said goodnight.
He penned of the moment, 'Never have I felt such a douchebag. Who was I trying to kid? I remember lying in bed and realising how badly I'd misread the signs. There was no me and Lily, it was all in my mind.'
Lily and James initially met in 2006 at the premiere of The History Boys. After complimenting her as 'confident, funny and intelligent,' the comedian wrote, 'We got talking at the party after the film and she asked me for my phone number, which was a bit embarrassing as I was standing with my girlfriend at the time.'
Millie Payne is a News and Entertainment Writer for Grazia. She has specialised in showbiz interviews, features, articles and roundups for over three years and loves combining her love for writing, talking and all things popular culture.