In the mid-'90s, following the huge success of his BBC talk show Knowing Me, Knowing You, one time sports reporter-turned-king of-chat Alan Partridge became one of the most recognisable faces on British television. This, in turn, made Manchester comedian Steve Coogan, the man who portrayed Norfolk's premier light entertainment personality, a celebrity in his own right, with members of the British public shouting Partridge's catchphrase "A-Ha!" at him on a daily basis.
As Coogan's fame sky-rocketed in the '90s, so too did his reliance on alcohol and cocaine, to the point where, as he recalled in his 2015 autobiography Easily Distracted, he recognised that he had become a "functioning addict", and admitted himself to rehab.
"I was there because of my own selfishness," he wrote in his memoir. "I had to accept personal responsibility. I wanted to say, I don’t take cocaine because I feel terrible about myself, I take it because I feel fucking great about myself and I deserve a reward for working so hard."
Coogan would eventually quit both alcohol and drugs, but not before he shared a memorable evening 'partying' with another Mancunian celebrity, Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher.
Gallagher spoke about the pair's 'session' in a 2018 interview conducted as part of Noisey's online British Masters series. Speaking with former Metal Hammer journalist John Doran, Gallagher revealed that he and Coogan hung out only once, in late 1995, ended up spending the night together.
Based upon the accents which Gallagher used to tell the story, he and Coogan were either thrown together at a wedding in Ireland, or at an Irish wedding in a hotel in an unspecified UK city.
"Me and him are sat at the bar having a couple of fucking drinks in this dungeon thing," Gallagher recalled. "Anyway, loads of people come in, and they're going like [southern Irish accent], 'Liam, are you going to sing Wonderwall?' I was like, I ain't singing. fucking Wonderwall man, no, none of that nonsense. I think this was about the time it [the single] was out, and I was going, I ain't singing none of that shit."
At this point, according to Gallagher, Coogan intervened, and told the wedding guests, "Leave him alone. I'll fucking sing a song."
"I don't think they really knew who he is," Gallagher continued. "And he got up on stage and sang It's Not Unusual by Tom Jones, but fucking mega! I'm at the back, fucking laughing, rolling around, and they're all going, [Irish accent again] 'Jaysuz, I don't know what you're laughing at, he's better singer than you!"
After drinking "a load of Guinness", the two Mancunian bon viveurs retired to Gallagher's hotel room, and eventually passed out on the singer's bed.
"I woke up in the morning and I see this lump in the bed, and I go, Oh God, who's this?
Gallagher recalls that he gave "the lump" under the bed clothes a tap on the shoulder, at which point Coogan rolled over, fully clothed, and shouted "A-haaaaa!"
"I haven't seen him since," Gallagher added. "Seriously, I haven't fucking seen him since."
You can watch the highly entertaining interview in full below.
