Shaun Ryder claims Bez turned down Julia Roberts during 'Pretty Woman' heyday

Happy Mondays star Shaun Ryder claims bandmate Bez turned down Julia Roberts during the height of her Pretty Woman fame because he had ‘too many women on the go’.

The 57-year-old, real name Mark Berry, was apparently quite the hit with the ladies back in his heyday, and according to Ryder, he was so in demand he turned down one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Appearing on This Morning today, Ryder gave away one of his pals biggest secrets, recalling a time Happy Mondays were touring across America in 1990.

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“Mine and Bez’s sexless marriage has been going on for 40 years,” Ryder told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.

“When we went to LA, Julia Roberts… the movie Pretty Woman had just come out, so she wasn’t the Julia Roberts who everyone knows now.

“We were in the Viper Rooms and Bez come over and said ‘you heard of Julia Jogerts? She’s just asked me to go to her place’.

“He didn’t have a clue who she was, but she sent a bodyguard over - 'Evil'. Bodyguard’s name was something like 'Evil'. So here’s there chatting away to him, didn’t have a clue.

“Anyway, he didn’t go back to her place because he had about four other girls on the go in the club anyway.”

When Schofield questioned if his lifelong pal had any regrets about it, Ryder laughed, and simply responded: “Well, he’s Bez innit?! He’s not really bothered!”

Since their heyday in the band, Bez and Ryder have remained best mates, and often appear together on Celebrity Gogglebox.

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Ryder has recently opened up about his ADHD diagnosis, which he notes explains his volatile behaviour in the past.

Speaking on White Wine Question Time podcast, he told Kate Thornton: “It's an absolute eureka moment because it explained everything.

“It explained why I lived a wildly chaotic life. I couldn't learn. Your brain is not wired up the same, the messages don't shoot across.

"I had trouble understanding what people were saying, because there’s other sorts of conditions with it - you know, controlling your temper and your emotions and everything else.”

This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.

Watch: Shaun Ryder opens up about how his ADHD led to his drug abuse