Erasure star hurt by "horrible" La Roux jibe

Andy Bell has revealed that he was hurt by a "horrible" comment made by La Roux singer Elly Jackson.

Jackson, 22, was less than favourable about the Erasure frontman's appearance when reviewing his latest single in the NME.

"She called me 'mutton dressed as lamb'. I thought that was a really horrible thing to say, though it's probably the sort of thing I would have said when I was her age," Bell told Digital Spy.

"I remember one time me and Vince [Clarke, Erasure bandmate] said we didn't like Diana Ross. The next week she came to see us in the dressing room at Top Of The Pops and gave us a telling off! That really taught me my lesson."

Bell, whose new solo album Non-Stop was released yesterday, attributed Jackson's cattiness to a misunderstanding at a recent US gig.

"I was DJing at a gay party in Palm Springs and she was playing there. I didn't get a chance to say hello because she was already performing when I came along... and then she was gone," he recalled.

"When she was performing, all the guys were just lounging around the pool not really watching her and I think she kind of put that down to me. It's a shame really because I do like her music."

> Click here to read our full interview with Andy Bell