Mat Horne conspicuously absent from former pal's tributes

Mathew Horne has declined to be interviewed for a TV profile of his former comedy partner and best friend James Corden.

Piers Morgan revealed this weekend that Horne declined to make an appearance on his ITV1 talk show Life Stories, in which friends, family and colleagues recorded short interviews about his former collaborator.

The pair became best friends for around three years after meeting on Gavin & Stacey, but parted ways after their BBC Three sketch show and movie Lesbian Vampire Killers were panned by critics.

When asked about the current state of their relationship, Corden said: ‘I love him. We talk occasionally.

But then Morgan revealed: ‘We asked him to take part in this programme, and he chose not to.'

Corden seemed to find the news uncomfortable to take and responded: ‘I didn't know that’

After a pause, he added: ‘But I can understand why. Because it's a hard time to talk about.’

However, Horne's agent said: 'Mathew did not refuse to go on Piers Morgan's James Corden show – he was not available during their recording period. There is a huge difference.'

When Morgan questioned him further Corden added: ‘I still hope one day we can do something together, again. It won't be a TV show or a sketch show.’

Earlier in the interview, Corden had said: ‘We never fell out. That was never what it was. We had such an intense love for each other. We were one person for a long time, and we had the best time.

‘The truth is these things that were offered to us - the sketch show, the film, hosting the Brits with Kylie Minogue... all these things, we just rushed into them, like “Wow! We’re going to be leads in a film together. We’re going to make our own sketch show.”

‘If I have one regret it’s that we just rushed those things. We were riding this amazing wave. When it stops, the people you anchor to are the people you’ve known the longest, not the people you’ve just met.’

Published: 31 Oct 2011