RINGO STARR claimed he thought “Liverpool would laugh” when he told a TV show there was nothing he missed about his home city.
The former Fab Four drummer sparked fury in Liverpool after making the comments on the Jonathan Ross BBC chat show in 2008.
Speaking for the first time about the controversy, Toxteth-born Ringo said: “I played the Echo Arena and everything was great. Then I did the Jonathan Ross show. I was being flippant. It was funny. I thought the whole of Liverpool would laugh.”
He said his relatives laughed at his comments but admitted: “My mother’s dead, so I don’t go back that often."
Ringo had performed at the opening of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year on top of St George’s Hall and is due to return to play the Empire later this year.
