Gary Numan has claimed the late David Bowie had him removed from a TV set after spotting him in the crowd.
Speaking on the I’m ADHD! No You’re Not podcast with Paul Whitehouse and Mine Conkbayir, the Cars hitmaker, 68, recalled being invited to watch Bowie film with legendary director David Mallet, just as he was preparing for The Kenny Everett Christmas Special.
He said: “I was like, f****** hell, dream come true."
Gary turned up, only to find himself squeezed at the back of a star‑studded room.
He said: “I’m quite little and I’m at the back trying to look over their shoulders.
“Bob Geldof was there… I couldn’t see much, but you’re in the same room.”
Then everything stopped.
He said: “There was a bit of a kerfuffle.
“David Mallet came in and said Bowie’s seen you here and he don’t want you here — you’ve gotta get out. I got thrown out. Then I got taken off the programme. I wasn’t on the special — he was.”
Asked whether it was jealousy or insecurity, Gary said the moment shattered his idol worship.
He said: “It took away all that hero‑worship thing. It made me realise he was human. If you’re human, you’re just like me — so it’s not as special as I thought.”
He believes Bowie may have felt threatened during a shaky period in his career.
Gary went on: “He’d been massive, but it wasn’t going as well in 1980. I’d come along selling my records, very briefly, for maybe two weeks. He probably saw me as a… something.”
Paul suggested: “A threat?”
Gary replied: “I don’t think you could ever be a threat to Bowie — he was Bowie. But maybe there was a level of insecurity. His career wasn’t what it had been, and he was probably panicking. I was the talk of the town for the moment, and he reacted badly.”
He added that Bowie’s famous friends piled on too. “
He said: "Mick Jagger said his thing because he was Bowie’s mate. Brian Eno said something a bit s***. All of his mates started ganging up on me.”
Gary says it bothered him at the time, but now he sees it as just another wild chapter in his career.
He said: “I’ve always tried not to be negative about anybody. If you don’t like something, just don’t like it quietly.”
I’m ADHD! No You’re Not is available on all podcast platforms every Thursday.
