When James Corden launched his talk show in the US nine years ago, his first guest was the famous actor Tom Hanks.
The Buckinghamshire-born star had landed in Hollywood just four weeks before The Late Late Show premiered in the United States. At a champagne-flowing soiree celebrating the first episode, I asked him: Had his production team and their many Tinseltown contacts helped him land the Forrest Gump star as an impressive first interviewee?
Apparently not. “I just called him,” a blasé Corden admitted, without looking up from his phone. “I asked him and he said yes,” he shrugged.
James Corden launched his talk show nine years ago in the US, his first guest was top A-lister Tom Hanks and a few episodes later it was David Beckham
A few episodes later it was David Beckham, followed by Friends star Matthew Perry.
He then created a new segment, the now world-famous Carpool Karaoke, where guests ride in a car with Corden and sing along to their favorite songs. Michelle Obama and Sir Paul McCartney both participated.
Corden’s rivals, including talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, looked on with envy, wondering how the British newcomer had gained access to all of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
The answer is that Corden, who grew up in a modest semi-detached house in High Wycombe with his parents Malcolm and Margaret, is one of the most impressive – and shameless – networkers in show business.
The only star who can match him, I’m told, is Harry Styles, who is, of course, Corden’s boyfriend.
How he’s managed to build up such a bulging black book of phone numbers has long been a secret. And many of them aren’t just acquaintances. Some of Corden’s most famous contacts—including David Beckham, Adele, Tom Cruise, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle—count him as a friend. Charming, funny and seemingly caring, the Gavin and Stacey star is the party guest everyone wants to talk to.
That is, aside from singer Lily Allen, who took a stunning dig at Corden this week by calling him a “beg friend” — in other words, someone who “begs” for your attention in the hopes of forging a friendship.
The only star who can rival Corden, I’m told, is Harry Styles, who is, of course, his buddy
In this regard, it seems that the relationship he has with his girlfriend, the Duchess of Sussex, is more than just friendship.
One of Corden’s former colleagues told the Mail: ‘It’s like James is climbing a ladder, he’s climbing up and every time he does it’s to befriend someone more famous. When he does that, the less famous people fall away, it’s all very “Meghan”.
‘Someone is the flavor of the month and they are showered with love, invited here, there, everywhere, and then when he meets someone else, they are no longer interesting. He is like a limpet.’
Indeed, Allen says that in 2008, when they met, when Corden appeared on her BBC talk show Lily Allen and Friends, she was considerably more famous than he was. At the time, she was tabloid gold, just as Corden wanted to be.
On her podcast Miss Me?, she said he was “really flirty” with her, adding, “We became friends and I introduced him to a group of my friends.”
Lily, 39, isn’t the only one questioning Corden’s motives.
One of Corden’s former colleagues told the Mail: ‘It’s like James is climbing a ladder, he’s climbing up and every time he does it’s to befriend someone more famous. When he does that, the less famous people fall away, it’s all very “Meghan”
Since he began his career 26 years ago, playing caretaker Wayne Clark in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks, he has made a lot of friends.
He was still a teenager at the time, but he couldn’t believe his luck and soon made friends on the set in Chester.
First he befriended Jeremy Edwards, then star of the show who played heartthrob Kurt Benson. Edwards told me a few years ago that Corden was “super excited” to be his friend when he first arrived.
The couple often went to nearby Liverpool together and enjoyed the perks that came with being a young soap star: the parties and the women.
The friendship was short-lived, however. Edwards told me how he made the mistake of introducing Corden to his much more famous friend, Dermot O’Leary. Corden immediately ditched his Hollyoaks co-star for the former X Factor presenter.
Edwards, who is still angry that Corden dumped him, is no longer one of Corden’s “best friends.”
And then there’s Matthew Horne, Corden’s co-star in Gavin and Stacey. The pair met in 2006 and the iconic BBC3 comedy launched a year later.
Like the two characters in the series, Gavin and Smithy, they were inseparable.
The split followed a series of projects together, including the Horne & Corden show in 2009 and the film Lesbian Vampire Killers that same year, which received poor reviews.
They also co-presented the Brit Awards in 2009, but their presentation was so bad that they later admitted they were unable to watch the recording of the show.
Not that Corden will lose any sleep over the broken friendships.
The actor and talk show host has long been a charmer for journalists and has now insinuated himself into the Murdoch empire after striking up a close friendship with Rupert’s eldest son (and heir) Lachlan, chairman of News Corp and executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation. Sources close to the pair say it’s a relationship that not only means Corden rubs shoulders with some of the world’s most influential businessmen and women, but also ensures that almost every mention of Murdoch in the press and on TV is positive.
“James is very proud of his friendship with Lachlan,” a source said. “And he’s very proud to brag about it.”
And then there are his football friends. As a lifelong West Ham fan, Corden is happy to have the team’s stars on speed dial – especially England midfielder Declan Rice. “James loves going out with Declan,” says a friend of Corden’s. “He’s football-mad and wants to hang out with the players.”
Matthew Horne, Corden’s co-star in Gavin and Stacey, met him in 2006 and the iconic BBC3 comedy was launched a year later
Corden also immediately sought out Bobby Zamora when the footballer was playing for West Ham and invited him to his Late Late Show when it was filmed in London in 2017.
Zamora was very pleased with his invitation and told me that evening what a ‘ledge’ [legend] Corden was.
Some will disagree with him.
Last year, Corden was sensationally banned from New York restaurant Balthazar after owner Keith McNally claimed the TV presenter had been “extremely mean” to staff on two separate occasions.
Although Corden initially dismissed the drama as “nonsense,” he later apologized.
“I made a rude comment, and it was wrong,” Corden said. “It was an unnecessary comment. It was rude to the server.”
But it marked the first time that Corden’s image as ‘Mr Nice Guy’ had been publicly tarnished.
Behind the scenes, however, his reputation in some circles appears to have been one of fabrication. Lily Allen isn’t the only one Corden hasn’t managed to charm.