Lily Allen Says James Corden Used to Be 'Flirtatious' and a 'Beg Friend' to Her: 'I Can't Do Anything for Him Now'

The "Smile" singer spoke about her history with beg friends, a British slang term for someone incessantly looking to connect with people who aren't interested

• Lily Allen opened up on her Miss Me? podcast about her past experiences with acquaintances who would seek a deeper connection with her than she was looking for

• The pop star named James Corden as a former "beg friend" of hers

• She also spoke about falling out with a former collaborator who's since looked to resume their friendship

Before James Corden was globally famous, Lily Allen says he was a "beg friend" to her.

On the latest episode of the British singer's Miss Me? podcast, she opened up about her history with beg friends, a slang term for someone incessantly looking to connect with people who aren't interested — and according to Allen, that was once her relationship with Corden.

"Yeah, James Corden was a bit of a beg friend for me. James came on my chat show [Lily Allen and Friends in 2008] and was very flirtatious with me, and we sort of made friends, and I introduced him to a group of my friends," she said in response to a fan asking if she'd ever experienced any "actually famous" beg friends.

Allen, 39, and her co-host Miquita Oliver recalled only hanging out with Corden, 45, for a very brief period of time, though they couldn't agree whether it was a week or a month. Either way, the "F--- You" singer wouldn't describe him as a beg friend these days.

"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," said Allen with a laugh. "I can’t do anything for him now. He’s good."

At the top of the episode, Oliver gave a brief explanation of a beg friend: "It’s kind of a latching on, jumping onto s---. You can smell it a mile off."

Then, Allen offered more expansive thoughts on the phrase. "You know when someone contacts you, and then you don’t respond to that thing, and then a couple days later they’ll send you a message? Like, ‘Just following up on this.’ It’s like, I know. That’s why I ignored you, and when you keep following up, that’s the begging," she said.

Both hosts admitted to acting like beg friends in the past, but while Oliver insisted that phase of her life is over, Allen said she "would beg friend Charli xcx," before adding: "I have been beg friending Charli xcx."

Elsewhere in the episode, Allen spoke about falling out with an unnamed former collaborator following her 2014 Sheezus album era and how the experience has felt reminiscent of a beg friend.

"We were working together, but we were also close friends, and then it sort of coincided with the breakdown of my marriage," said the "Hard Out Here" performer, who was married to Sam Cooper from 2011 through 2018. The exes share two daughters, Ethel and Marnie, and Allen has now been married to actor David Harbour since 2020.

"That person was quite happy to sort of sit and point the finger at me, and watch my demise, and point and laugh about what a downward spiral I was on," she recalled of the ex-friend, "and then recently, since this podcast has been going quite well I’ve heard from several people that they have been asking, ‘How’s Lily? I really miss her. It’d be really great if we could get back in touch again, and I really regret what happened.’"

However, Allen's not interested in rekindling. "They haven’t been beggy to me, but the way that person’s gone about it, I’m just not into it. I don’t need it. I’m really happy. I’ve got a great life. I’ve got great friends. I don’t need that energy," she said.

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