Noel Gallagher says he’s ‘punching above his weight’ with new girlfriend as he breaks silence on secret romance
LITTLE more than a year since the breakdown of his 22-year relationship with Sara McDonald, Noel Gallagher is now off the market.
Aptly, the former Oasis star has fallen head over heels for a woman called Sally, who was with him at his Royal Albert Hall show last month.
Speaking about his new love for the first time, Noel said: “She’s a good woman. She doesn’t show up often, but it was nice to see her [at the Royal Albert Hall].
“She says she sees a steely look in my eyes. She’s looked into my eyes countless times down the years.”
When asked what she makes of him singing Oasis’s 1996 hit Don’t Look Back In Anger, with the famous “So Sally can wait” chorus, he added: “She’s cool about it.”
Noel was wed to Sara for 12 years of their relationship and, before first dating her in 2001, was married to Meg Matthews for three years.
But he knows he struck lucky with Sally, who has been pictured with him in London a handful of times over the past six months.
He said: “I’ve punched above my weight several times in my life, and I think if you can make a girl laugh the battle is more than won.
“I mean, when you drop your trousers, you’d rip them off and show them the little nubbin of fury. If they do laugh, you’re halfway there for a peck on the nubbin.
“I think if you have to act a certain way [to get a woman] then you’ve to act like that for the rest of your life. She’s either into you for what you are, or the quest continues.”
I’m sure Sally would have stifled any chuckles, Noel.
Meanwhile he’s cleaned up his lifestyle since hitting the booze and fags following his divorce from Sara.
He said: “I don’t look like a plastic bag full of wine any more. I don’t look like Pete Doherty — a waddling bag of p**s.
“I’ve got a gym in my flat and I’m cooking and I stopped drinking for three months and stopped doing all that goes with it. It was OK.”
After seeing him on stage with his band High Flying Birds at that Royal Albert Hall gig for the Teenage Cancer Trust, it was obvious to me Noel has more than got his mojo back.
Following the break-up with Sara, he went down a rabbit hole of drinking and smoking.
He said: “I looked f***g rough towards the end of last year. Divorce is a weird thing. You’re in a weird space. You’re drinking and the diet was s**t and then being on the road and smoking and all that — it was great.”
He also revealed on pal Matt Morgan’s Patreon podcast how he has torn up an acoustic record he’d been working on as a follow-up to the High Flying Birds’ fourth album, last year’s Council Skies which got to No2 in the charts.
‘Waddling bag of p**s’
He said: “I’ve scrapped the acoustic album — I can’t be a***d. I was about six tunes in and got so bored about the pace of it.
“And the thing that did it for me was that they were all songs about having a bit of a broken heart. It was becoming like Council Skies.
“It’s time to make a defiant rock album, which is what I’m going to start doing. I’ve got a lot of songs.”
But he added: “Council Skies had three different things to it — there was kind of uplifting acoustic things, there was a bit of melancholy and there was a bit of rock ’n’ roll pop music. It’s the best High Flying Birds album and the first album I’ve made, bar [Oasis’s] Definitely Maybe, that is actually perfect.
“I’m still listening to Council Skies and going, ‘It’s f*****g perfect’. There’s nothing I could give to or take away from that to make it better.”
I agree. If Foo Fighters’ killer album But Here We Are hadn’t come out the same day last June, it would easily have been another No1 for Noel.
Dakota’s Scott the giggles
DAKOTA FANNING had a laugh with Andrew Scott at the LA premiere of their Netflix series Ripley – and the actress revealed she’s the happiest she has ever been since turning 30 in February.
She said at the event on Wednesday: “I’m having to do crazy things schedule-wise, but I’m totally fine with it. Nothing’s bothering me.”
My thirties have been the best decade of my life too, so I hope it keeps getting better for her.
Smiling dua looks on the Blighty side
AFTER jetting off to Mexico, LA and Paris in the past couple of weeks, Dua Lipa had a smile on her face as she was spotted back home in Blighty.
The Levitating singer was spotted attending a series of meetings in central London wearing a long green PVC jacket.
It is less than a month to go until she releases her third album Radical Optimism – and last night Dua confirmed her third single from the album will be called Illusion.
On the song, Dua sings: “I’ve been known to miss a red flag. I’ve been known to put my lover on a pedestal.”
It comes off the back of Houdini and Training Season, which peaked at No2 and No4 respectively in the UK charts.
I have high hopes for this one.
Max is magic in Black
AVA MAX looks bootiful in these heavy heels and a latex catsuit as she promotes her new tune.
She leads the new releases today with her belting dance song My Oh My, which name checks Naomi Campbell, Kim Kardashian and Gigi Hadid and comes with a belting key change.
Elsewhere in the pop world, fresh from her UK tour, GRIFF has released her EP Ver2igo Vol. 2 and Swedish star Benjamin Ingrosso has dropped his radiant track Better Days.
Three years after topping the charts with their third album Californian Soil, London Grammar are back with their single House.
It will feature on their next record The Greatest Love, which will be released in September.
Frontwoman Hannah Reid said: “House is about drawing boundaries around yourself.
“When I hit my thirties, my mindset shifted, and I no longer felt like a victim of anything – it all felt within my power. I thought, making music should be fun, and we’re gonna make that happen.”
Drivers ‘axe rude Lizzo’
EARLIER this week, Lizzo made an awkward U-turn on her decision to quit the music industry amid bullying claims from former dancers.
But while she insists she is innocent, the rumours of bad behaviour just won’t go away.
I’m told by a well-placed music mole that Lizzo’s attitude got so bad last year that the firm that laid on her chauffeurs now refuses to work with her.
A source said: “Lizzo’s reputation away from the cameras and off stage precedes her. Many singers share chauffeurs and people talk.
“Word on the street is the company will no longer work with her as she was rude to staff.”
I’m gutted as I adore Lizzo and her music, but it goes without saying that everyone should be treated with respect.
EU can pick top ABBA hit
RADIO 2 is thanking Abba for the music by launching a vote to discover the ultimate song from the band.
I can reveal Gary Davies will announce the poll on his show just after 11.15am today – and then you’ll be able to vote at bbc.co.uk/abbavote.
It is part of a series of Abba celebrations on Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, as tomorrow marks 50 years since they won Eurovision with Waterloo.
A four-part series telling the band’s story, Eras: Abba, will be broadcast in two instalments, this and next Sunday.
And another special, Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Abba, My Supergroup, which is out now, sees the Murder On The Dancefloor singer speak of her love for the Swedish legends.
That will be enough to turn me into a Dancing Queen.
Kiss re-Bjorn in £237m deal
ROCK legends Kiss have sold the rights to their music catalogue, as well as their trademark black and white make-up, for a whopping £237million.
They have been snapped up by Pophouse Entertainment Group, a company founded by Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus.
And like the Swedish group, who appear as avatars in their Voyage live show in East London, there are plans to recreate the Crazy Crazy Nights rockers on stage as part of the megadeal.
Bassist Gene Simmons said: “We have always been breaking new ground, and this partnership will ensure that we continue to do so.”