Noel Edmonds has spoken of how Gary Barlow was annoyed when Mr Blobby denied Take That their first Christmas number one.

Mr Blobby’s self-titled track had already spent three weeks on the chart in December 1993 and rose two places as the boy band’s single Babe was pipped at the post.

Recalling the incident from 24 years ago, Edmonds told BBC Radio Five Live: “Mr B was hugely successful with his number one record… That really pissed off Gary Barlow, I tell you.”

Gary Barlow was said to be aggrieved that Take That did not take the Christmas Number One (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)
Gary Barlow was said to be aggrieved that Take That did not take the Christmas number one (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

The 69-year-old was speaking ahead of his return to television on the BBC in Asian Adventure: The Road To Saigon, where couples will travel 4,000km through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in classic cars.

Speaking about Noel’s House Party – a staple of Saturday night TV between 1991 and 1999 – he said: “I was hired to beat ITV, it was as simple as that. I and Cilla Black would slog it out over a combined audience of 30 million.

“It is impossible for me to exaggerate my happiness at having been able to make that kind of television.”