Take Thatfor insulting them at an awards ceremony in 2006.

He called the group “a load of old b*****ks” at the 2006 Q Awardsand Gary Barlowand co. took the criticism to heart. The Monkeys even snubbed The Brit Awardsin 2008, where they were up against TT in three categories, to avoid losing face if they were beaten by the man band.

In the end, the Sheffield guitar heroes would have won the battle – they picked up Brits for best British album and group, while Take That only beat them in one category, best live act.

But now Alex has told NME he regrets the name-calling. "We love Gary Barlow,”he insisted. “I think I really offended him a few years ago though, which I'm sorry about. I didn't understand it then. Didn't know what was going on, trying to rustle some feathers.”

The Brianstorm star seems to be mellowing as he matures, as he also revealed to NME that the Monkeys’ new album Suck It And See will feature more humour than their last release, Humbug.

“There were times in the lyrics on Humbug when I went into some corners that I didn't need to. But I went there and I think there's still some humour on that album,” he said. “But it's definitely more prominent on this. There's a few more gags.”