{"id":402350,"date":"2026-04-16T22:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T22:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/402350\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T22:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T22:27:13","slug":"the-ordinary-boys-preston-says-simon-amstells-never-mind-the-buzzcocks-joke-that-led-to-walk-off-was-cruel-and-classist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/402350\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ordinary Boys’ Preston says Simon Amstell’s ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’ joke that led to walk-off was “cruel and classist\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ordinary Boys<\/a>\u2019 Preston has looked back at walking-off Never Mind The Buzzcocks, saying that the joke made by host Simon Amstell was \u201ccruel and classist\u201d.<\/p>\n

The frontman appeared on a 2007 episode of the BBC music and comedy panel show, and infamously abruptly walked off set during filming when Amstell repeatedly ridiculed his then-wife Chantelle Houghton \u2013 who he married shortly after meeting on the set of Celebrity Big Brother the year prior.<\/p>\n

At one point, reading out excerpts from Houghton\u2019s autobiography and poking fun at a section where she wrote that doing a \u201cphotoshoot for the Daily Mail made me feel really posh and upmarket\u201d \u2013 the comedian\u2019s comments led to the singer getting up and leaving the studio.<\/p>\n

Speaking to NME shortly after the incident, Preston called Amstell a \u201csnotty little posh boy\u201d,<\/a> and accused him of not writing his own jokes for the show.<\/p>\n

Two years later, he revealed that he regretted walking out of the show <\/a>\u2013 sharing that while he \u201cwanted the floor to swallow [him] up\u201d at the time, he would still \u201clove to\u201d go on the pop quiz again to \u201cshow them that I\u2019m not a tantrum-y person.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2011, he then doubled down on the comments and said that he \u201cused to be an insufferable arsehole\u201d<\/a> and \u201ca real dickhead\u201d but had since changed his ways.<\/p>\n

Now, he has looked back at the heated appearance on Never Mind The Buzzcocks nearly 20 years on and said that he now sees his exit from the show as \u201ca proud moment\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was actually cruel and classist,\u201d he told The Guardian<\/a>, referring to the quips Amstell made towards Houghton \u2013 who he divorced in 2008. \u201cI really don\u2019t know what other choice I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also explained that why he and Houghton married just eight months after taking part in Big Brother together \u2013 sharing that they \u201ctrauma-bonded through this intense experience\u201d \u2013 and revealed that he \u201cwas in a weird space\u201d and \u201con loads of Prozac\u201d after leaving the reality show.<\/p>\n

Adding that fame started to feel like a \u201cnightmare\u201d for him, he recalled to The Guardian what it was like to be a part of the 2018 phone-hacking scandal, and explained how his personal life was picked apart by the media. \u201cIt was that Nuts and Zoo Weekly magazine era. The way that people were talked about \u2013 \u2018Preston looks fat today\u2019 \u2013 it was just awful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The interview comes as The Ordinary Boys are making a comeback and dropping the new ska-infused single \u2018Peer Pressure\u2019 tomorrow (Friday April 17) after being on hiatus for over a decade.<\/p>\n

It has been 20 years since the band\u2019s early heyday with singles like \u2018Boys Will Be Boys\u2019 and \u2018Nine2Five\u2019, and last year they confirmed that they were back in the studio when they collaborated with Olly Murs on festive single \u2018Christmas Starts Tonight\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since then, the band played their first show in over 10 years at London\u2019s Strongroom last month and have confirmed dates supporting Madness<\/a>, as well as slots at Victorious<\/a> and Together Again Festival. Visit here<\/a> for tickets.<\/p>\n

The band split in 2008, and reunited in 2011 \u2013 going on to release their latest, self-titled album in 2015<\/a>. In his time away from the group, Preston has worked as a songwriter for huge names including Cher<\/a>, Liam Payne<\/a>, Jessie Ware<\/a> and Kylie Minogue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the latest interview with The Guardian, Preston reflected on Liam Payne\u2019s death in 2024<\/a>, and remembered him as \u201ca very funny, sweet, kind guy\u201d who was \u201cmisunderstood\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a lot of him in me, because we both suffered. I massively wish I\u2019d been able to do more. But as for some kind of intervention, I don\u2019t think I [had that role] in his life,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

The indie frontman also reflected on how he was told in 2017 that he may never walk again after falling off a balcony<\/a>, and revealed that the incident led to him becoming addicted to OxyContin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Ordinary Boys\u2019 Preston has looked back at walking-off Never Mind The Buzzcocks, saying that the joke made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,636,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-402350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-indie","12":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}