World-renowned composer and impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber was almost given the axe by legendary Welsh singer Dame Shirley Bassey.
While joining ITV's Loose Women - Kaye Adams, Shani Dhanda, Linda Robson and Nadia Sawahla - to discuss his latest project, a modern twist on the traditional tale of Cinderella, he let viewers in on his little secret.
"There was one New Year's Eve where, shall we say, as the early morning gathered," he explained. "And Dame Shirley decided that it was a moment to sing a song called Everything's As If We Never Said Goodbye from Sunset Boulevard, and she asked if I would play the piano for her, which I did."
Cardiff-born diva Dame Shirley, 84, best known for her expressive voice and for recording the soundtrack theme songs of James Bond movies Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker has been dear friends with Baron Lloyd-Webber for many years.
He continued: "I played the song, and she said, 'No! It doesn't go like that!' So, I said, 'Well, it kind of does, because I wrote it!', and she said, 'No! No!'"
The 73-year-old West End and Broadway icon then said that fellow musical composer Howard Goodall, who had been staying with him at the time, then tried his hand at the piano.
"He played it as I wrote it, and then he was fired! In the end, Dame Shirley gave a very fine - I must say - rendition of a song, though it didn't utterly resemble mine, but it was very good!"
