Robbie Williams dropped his friend Alan Carr from his comeback single.

Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams

The 42-year-old singer had asked his presenter pal to record a line on 'Heavy Entertainment Show' - the lead single from his upcoming album of the same name - but decided at the last minute to replace him with a female vocalist instead.

A source said: "Alan and Robbie have been mates for years and Rob had this idea to get him to sing on the new record.

"The song is about light entertainment so he thought Alan would be perfect for it.

"Robbie invited him into the studio in London earlier this year to record his line and it was on the track.

"But at the last minute he made the decision to drop the recording and replace him with a girl's voice."

Luckily, the 40-year-old presenter - who had recorded the line, "He'll give it all, and a little bit more", for the song - isn't going to hold a grudge about the snub.

The source added to The Sun newspaper: "Thankfully Alan took it all in good humour."

While Alan might not feature on the record, a track written by Ed Sheeran does and Robbie recently revealed he begged the 'Thinking Out Loud' hitmaker to send him a "hit" to complete the LP.

He explained: "[I thought,] days are running out for the album, 'Have I got enough hits? Are there enough hits? I've got Ed Sheeran's email. I'll send him an email and see what happens. One last hope.

"[I wrote,] 'Dear Ed, Robbie Williams here. Do you have any spare hits?' And he sent me this song about 'Pretty Woman'. I added a chorus and I think the song is fully formed."

The 'Kids' singer is thrilled that Ed agreed to give him the song as he thinks the flame-haired star is a "phenomena and "incredibly talented".

He added: "I'm honoured that he said yes and I'm honoured that I get to be in Ed's thoughts. You can't not be a fan of Ed.

"He's a phenomena. And also the nicest guy. He's incredibly talented."

Tagged in