sketches

WHILE Russell Brand and Noel Fielding once looked like one of the most unlikely – and inseparable – double acts on the British comedy circuit, the Bake Off star has now revealed their relationship was never as close as it appeared.

Noel has broken his silence to The Sun following Brand’s conviction for rape and sexual assault, insisting that while they played up their relationship for the cameras and in the media, he considered it a “professional” rather than “personal” friendship.

In a statement to The Sun, Noel said: “I was horrified and deeply disturbed to learn of Russell Brand’s crimes, which I was completely unaware of until they became public knowledge.

“My thoughts are with the women whose courage brought him to justice.

“I appeared on TV, radio and live charity shows with him, and whilst we played it up for the cameras and in the media, I considered it a professional relationship, rather than a personal one. I have had no contact with him for many years.

“Looking back at some of the jokes I made alongside him I was appalled. They were horrible and inappropriate, and I very much regret them.”

The comments offer a different picture of a relationship which, to anyone watching from the outside, could easily have been mistaken for a close friendship.

The pair were regularly booked together, appeared alongside one another on television and were photographed on nights out – becoming one of the most recognisable odd couples of the Noughties comedy scene.

Brand was sentenced to ten years and six months in prison after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

On November 5, he was convicted at Southwark Crown Court, where a jury heard how a woman was raped by the comedian in 2009 at his luxury London home, when she was a 21-year-old fan.

The duo first met at the NME Awards in the early 2000s, regularly being booked together by television producers as an offbeat comedy package.

They became known as The Goth Detectives, a double act which saw them team up for sketches including on Channel 4’s The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.

With their eccentric outfits, heavy eyeliner and increasingly outrageous humour, the pair became a firm favourite on Jimmy Carr’s annual panel show.

Brand, 51, rose to fame as the host of Big Brother’s Big Mouth in 2006, while Noel became known for his surreal comedy in The Mighty Boosh and later appeared in The IT Crowd. They also appeared together at events including the Teenage Cancer Trust benefit, while Noel popped up on Brand’s BBC Radio 2 show.

Away from the cameras, they were regularly photographed together at parties and nights out, particularly around Camden, where London’s indie-sleaze and alternative comedy scenes collided.

During the mid-Noughties, venues such as The Hawley Arms, Barfly and KOKO were regular haunts for the capital’s musicians, comedians and celebrity crowd.

It was a world of skinny jeans, fringes, rock clubs and late nights – and Noel and Russell were right in the middle of it.

But, in the light of Brand’s conviction, revisiting some of their old material now makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing – something Noel has said himself he regrets.

In one resurfaced Big Fat Quiz appearance, the pair made a series of bizarre jokes about underage girls.

At one point, Noel asked: “How do you even know if it’s a child or an adult? You don’t even care, do you?”

Brand then joked about mistaking a grasshopper for an adult, before pretending to realise it was actually 12.

In another exchange, the pair discussed a young girl being brought into their supposed gothic household, with Brand warning Noel: “Don’t say rape when we’re left alone with a 15-year-old girl.”

The sketches were presented as surreal comedy at the time, but have taken on a different tone following Brand’s conviction.

And it was not the only time their shared humour veered into uncomfortable territory.

In another interview, Noel joked about the young female fans who attended The Mighty Boosh live shows, saying: “Some of our fans are quite young, so, you know, we didn’t take advantage.

“We showed them a good time, gave them a few drinks. But the problem was then you realise they were really young, so you’d sort of feel really guilty. Oh, we’d better get them a cab home and make sure they’re alright and stuff.”

He added that he sometimes encountered their parents the following day, saying he would be left insisting: “I didn’t do anything.”

In another clip, Noel joked that his ideal audience for his comedy was “16-year-old girls and art students”.

But perhaps the most uncomfortable moment to resurface came from a Big Fat Quiz appearance alongside Brand, Jonathan Ross and singer Lily Allen.

During the show, Ross joked about Allen being seated near two of the best-known “c**ksmen” in the business, referring to Brand and Fielding.

Ross then suggested she should move away from them to ensure she went home with her dress still on.

Noel replied: “How dare you? We’re not rapists.”

When Jimmy Carr questioned why he was wearing a cape if he was not a rapist, Noel joked that it was a “Jack the Ripper cape”.

Brand then joined in, saying: “There is no direct corollary between capes and rape. It’s just a rhyme. Leave him alone.”

Noel went on to joke about leaving the scene of a crime with his cape covering his face.

The exchange has since been revisited following Brand’s convictions, with Allen herself recalling the uncomfortable moment in a 2023 interview with Grazia.

She said: “I was on a chat show with Russell Brand and Noel Fielding and Jonathan Ross. And there are comments, I think, about me being raped or something.”

Noel has now said he was appalled by some of the jokes he made alongside Brand and very much regrets them. He has not been accused of misconduct, nor is there any suggestion he knew about the extent of Brand’s behaviour.

Their personal lives also overlapped during the same period, with both men being linked to Bob Geldof’s daughters.

Noel was frequently photographed with Pixie Geldof in 2006 and 2007, when he was 33 and she was 16. He denied they were romantically involved, insisting they were “just friends”.

At the time, he acknowledged the age gap had caused controversy, saying: “There’s a chemistry between us and we liked each other, but she’s so much younger… It caused a lot of problems because her dad wanted to kill me obviously.”

Brand, meanwhile, was rumoured to have briefly dated Pixie’s older sister Peaches, who was 17 at the time. Neither publicly confirmed the relationship.

Another old appearance saw Noel and Brand take part in an Amnesty International Secret Policeman’s Ball promotional sketch called When Two Hairs Collide, in which they improvised a hyper-sexualised routine involving racehorse Red Rum and Brand’s anatomy.

The pair’s comedy was often deliberately provocative, with Brand’s performances in particular built around sexual shock value.

But the contrast between that world and Noel’s life today could hardly be greater.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on behalf of Fielding.

The Mighty Boosh star has become one of Britain’s best-known television presenters, fronting The Great British Bake Off – a family favourite watched by millions.

Noel joined the Channel 4 baking competition in 2017, taking over as co-host alongside Sandi Toksvig after the programme moved from the BBC. He has remained on the show ever since, later presenting alongside Matt Lucas before Alison Hammond took over the role in 2023.

Away from television, Noel shares two daughters, Dali and Iggy, with his wife, radio presenter and writer Lliana Bird. The couple have kept their family life largely private, with Noel rarely speaking publicly about his children.

Brand, meanwhile, has been convicted of serious sexual offences and sentenced to more than a decade in prison.

For a pairing that once looked like a close friendship to the outside world, Noel’s statement has drawn a clear distinction between the double act audiences saw and the relationship he says existed behind the scenes.

It comes after Jonathan Ross also broke his silence on his past friendship with Brand and David Walliams, 55, saying he was “horrified” by the revelations and had been “genuinely unaware of their conduct”.

Ross said: “There was a time in my life when I was on friendly terms with both men, and during that period I was genuinely unaware of their conduct.

“My thoughts are with the many, many women who have bravely come forward.”

Walliams has faced a separate scandal, following allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour which he strongly denies.

An ITV investigation, David Walliams: Power and Silence, examined allegations made by women who said he had used his position in the entertainment industry to target or groom them when they were teenagers or young women. Walliams has denied all allegations.