Josh O’Connor admits he joined band to impress FKA Twigs in school: ‘I don’t think she knows who I am’

‘The Crown’ star said he found the story ‘hilarious’

Josh O’Connor has opened up about the embarrassing lengths he went to get FKA Twigs’ attention when the pair were in school together.

The star of The Crown and musician Twigs – real name Tahliah Barnett – both grew up in Cheltenham and attended the same school.

Speaking in a new interview with GQ Hype, O’Connor admitted that he’d wanted to date Twigs after they performed in a production of children’s musical Bugsy Malone together.

“I really shouldn’t be saying this, but it’s hilarious,” the 33-year-old began.

“I was in a band called Orange Output basically to try and get Twigs to go out with me. I was the lead singer, and one of the lyrics I wrote was, ‘I’m addicted to crack, motherf***er.’ The closest thing I’d had to crack was Coco Pops.”

At the time, Twigs did not respond, with O’Connor saying: “I don’t think she knows who I am.”

However, the “Cellophane” singer, 35, confirmed to GQ via email that she did know who the actor was.

“I’m very flattered that he tried to do that because I was definitely not cool and not particularly popular,” she said.

O’Connor (pictured) and Twigs attended the same school (Getty Images for RFF)

O’Connor had small roles in Doctor Who and Peaky Blinders before he rose to fame playing the young King Charles III on season three and four of The Crown.

He will next be seen in Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s R-rated comedy drama set in the world of tennis.

The film, which co-stars Zendaya and Mike Faist, was originally scheduled to open the Venice Film Festival before arriving in cinemas in September.

However, it has now been delayed until 26 April 2024 due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes.

In Challengers, Zendaya plays a tennis prodigy who becomes a coach after suffering a bad injury at a young age. The film centres around a love triangle between Zendaya’s character and two tennis stars, played by O’Connor and West Side Story’s Faist.

In a recent interview, Zendaya spoke about the “intense” erotically charged scenes in the film, which is directed by Call Me By Your Name filmmaker Guadagnino.

“It’s what Luca does so well,” she said. “It’s the things that aren’t. It’s the moments between the moments. Like, chemistry. The things that you can’t always say, but you feel.

“That is Luca’s specialty when it comes to filmmaking. All the things that aren’t on the page that only someone who’s got the camera can really find.”