Andy Lee has interviewed a lot of famous faces but one big name that he clearly didn’t enjoy meeting was Justin Bieber.

The comedian and presenter was interviewed on Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa this morning (as per news.com.au) when a song from Bieber brought back sore memories for Lee.

Alongside usual comedy partner Hamish Blake, the pair interviewed the Canadian pop superstar when he visited Australia back in 2015. “Bieber was one of the least favourite guests I’ve ever had on The Hamish & Andy Show,” Lee recalled. “He was a brat.”

According to Lee, the ‘Baby’ singer’s list of misbehaviours was long. After turning up late for the interview, he then proceeded to chew on a sandwich while they chatted. “And I said, ‘Would you like to stop for a second and finish your sandwich and we can keep going?’ He’s like, ‘No’,” Lee said.

In a strange celebrity diva moment, Bieber’s record company asked Lee to find a way to include table tennis into the interview because Bieber “really want to play tennis.” “He took on Hamish’s dad because Hamish’s dad was the only person who played table tennis… And then he took the game really seriously. He swore at Hamish’s dad, which we edited out,” Lee revealed.

And Bieber wasn’t done there. Confronted by hundreds of adoring and screaming young fans, he didn’t take kindly to them happily singing along during his acoustic set. “So obviously, it’s at a time in his life when he was just getting flown around and getting screamed at by girls,” Lee added.

“But he’s playing this rooftop gig, and they’re singing along with the song, and he goes ‘Stop, stop, stop, stop. No one came here to hear you. If I came here with my full band, that’d be fine, but it’s just me acoustic. I’m trying to do something real. No one came here to hear you. We’ll start again.'”

Love Comedians?

Get the latest Comedians news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more

Like his swearing at Blake’s dad, Bieber’s petulance was also removed from the final edit. “It felt like a day of just cutting out his bad habits,” Lee rued.

Still, there’s some hope for Bieber and Lee to patch things up. “To defend him, it was a while ago, and I couldn’t imagine being a child star and not knowing any different,” the comedian considered. Whenever Bieber returns to Australia, here’s hoping Hamish and Andy get to interview him again.

For more on this topic, follow the Comedians Observer.

Watch Hamish’s dad play Justin Bieber at table tennis:

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine