Damon Albarn blasts Graham Norton over chat show snub in VERY awkward exchange

Damon Albarn has taken aim at Graham Norton for not inviting him back on the chat show during an awkward exchange on Friday's episode.

The singer, 57, appeared alongside Adrian Lester, Leo Woodall, Stephen Graham and Kaley Cuoco. 

He was on the show to promote Gorillaz's upcoming tour, which will stop at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June. 

During the episode, Damon called out Graham about never being invited back on the famous sofa.

'You haven't invited me back,' he said while sipping his drink.

'Well, you're here now,' Graham replied.

Damon continued: 'I remember the last time I came back and told you in a nightclub… you remember?'

'What? I was in a nightclub?' Graham asked, clearly confused.

'Yeah, I was in a nightclub with you and I was like, 'Why am I never on your show?' Damon explained.

'I have no recollection of that. I must've been quite... drunk,' Graham admitted.

Damon quipped: 'It must've been one of those nightclubs.'

'Yes, it must have. How funny. I may have blanked it from my mind out of awkwardness,' Graham replied.

It comes after Damon was seen enjoying a low-key stroll with a new female companion in August, two years after his much-publicised split from Suzi Winstanley.

Back in 2023, The Mail On Sunday revealed that despite trying hard to save their relationship, Suzi ended things with Damon after 25 years together.

Sources close to the couple, who shared daughter Missy, 25, said that it was 'kept a bit secret' and only those who had to know were told.

It was also revealed that they struggled with the Blur frontman's travelling schedule and his insistence that he spent much of his time at their Devon home where he has converted some of the space into a recording studio.

One friend: 'Suzi was so heartbroken that she hardly told anyone. She really, really tried but the relationship just could not be saved.

'It has been so sad for her, I suppose once you share news like that around it makes it all very final.'

Suzi was said to be so heartbroken that she has been unable to listen to Albarn's latest album, The Ballad of Darren.

Many of the lyrics tell the story of their romance which began in the late 1990's following Albarn's split from Elastica star Justine Fleischmann.

In a song called The Ballad, the lyrics say: 'I just looked into my life/And all I saw was that you're not coming back.'

Other lyrics hint that Albarn who is also known for virtual band Gorillaz, placed himself at fault for the breakdown of the relationship. The album's second track St Charles Square features the opening lines: I f***** up/I'm not the first to do it.'

Albarn had moved into a two-bedroom flat in Ladbroke Grove and got in cartoonist friend Jamie Hewlett as a housemate.

He had been invited onto Libby Purvis's Radio 4 chat show Midweek, where Winstanley had also been a guest, due to her Olly and Suzi partnership, which specialised in collaborative painting of endangered wildlife.

As Hewlett and Albarn began coming up with the idea for the Gorillaz project, they would hold get-togethers in the property.

The Girls and Boys singer recalled in an interview with the Sunday Times in 2008: 'We had some incredible parties in the flat.

'Some very interesting people came through our door during that year.'

One of them was Winstanley and by the end of 1999 they had moved into a house together and welcomed their daughter, Missy.

He previously described becoming a father as 'witnessing a life force' in an interview with Esquire.

He said: 'It massively changes you. It slowly sort of shaves off the unpleasant thorny bits and hopefully creates a nicely rounded [life].

'I don't know, having a kid, inevitably you look to the future far more.'

The pair kept most details of their private life under wraps, but Albarn would reveal snippets on rare occasions.

He disclosed that they would never tie the knot due to a fundamental lack of interest in the institution.

Albarn remarked on one occasion: 'I don't think she'd marry me. Suzi doesn't believe in marriage, and nor do I.

'It's been so ruined by everybody who's got divorced.'