Lee Mack has candidly revealed that he was “snubbed” by Noel Gallagher after the Oasis guitarist did not respond to his invitation to feature on the hit sitcom Not Going Out.
During Friday’s episode of The One Show, where Lee appeared alongside co-star Sally Bretton to promote the latest series of Not Going Out, he spoke about his hopes of including Noel in the show.
In one of the new episodes, Lee references Oasis, drawing from his personal experience of struggling to secure reunion tour tickets. Inspired by this, he came up with the idea of writing a show about the band. “I like everybody else was queuing for hours online, and we couldn’t get them, so I thought, well I haven’t got tickets but I’ll write a show about them,” Lee explained.
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He then shared his bigger aspiration: “And there I am, proving I can’t sing. And I thought, wouldn’t it be great if Noel Gallagher turned up?"
Recalling a brief encounter with Noel on The One Show, Lee considered those five minutes enough to call them friends. “As far as I’m concerned, meeting someone for five minutes, we’re now friends,” he joked. Emboldened by this, Lee admitted he “harassed” Noel by texting him after getting his number, asking him to appear on the show.
However, when asked what happened next, Lee had to confess, “He never contacted me.”
Turning the moment into humour, Lee said his next target might be Billy Idol, who happened to be a guest on The One Show that evening.
Lee also shared insight into his writing process for comedy. “I was always told you had to get one gag a page but actually that’s just not enough. We try and make every line — we ask if that line can be funny, and if it can’t be then we just do that as a set up, but we try and cram as many as we can in.”
He addressed critics who say he’s “just a stand-up comedian crow-barring his jokes in,” agreeing wholeheartedly: “No problem with that whatsoever.”
Not Going Out, which first premiered in 2006, is now returning for its 14th season. The new series continues the story seven years on, with Lee and Lucy moving house amid comedic mishaps.
The opening episode synopsis reads: “Lee and Lucy are moving house and viewing a property that Lucy loves when, embarrassingly, Lee needs the loo. Before he can use it, however, a second buyer turns up to take a look at the property. To dissuade him from putting in an offer, Lee pretends to be the vendor.”
The latest season of Not Going Out airs tonight on BBC One and is also available on iPlayer.