WATCH: James Corden’s first-ever Carpool Karaoke with George Michael
IT TURNS out that James Corden was doing Carpool Karaoke long before he made it big in America on The Late Late Show.
Smithy and George Michael in the first Carpool Karaoke
Video footage has resurfaced of the very first Carpool Karaoke from 2011 and reveals the humble beginnings of what has gone on to be a viral sensation.
Carpool Karaoke was born from a Comic Relief sketch several years ago and saw the 37-year-old as his character from Gavin and Stacey, Smithy, singing along to songs in a car with George Michael.
The video starts off with Sir Lenny Henry making a call to Smithy after he and Richard Curtis struggle to organise Comic Relief and enlist his help.
Smithy receives the call while he is in the car with his friend George, 52, who overhears the conversation.
Smithy and George Michael in the first Carpool Karaoke
George and Smithy sing to a Wham! classic
Because you’re a joke, George. It’s embarrassing, I can’t walk into Comic Relief with you. Comic Relief is about helping people like you
The former Wham! singer asks if he can come along to the BBC with Smithy but he refuses to let him.
“You don’t want me to come with you because you don’t want to be seen with a gay man,” the pop star hits back at Smithy, before asking him: “Why can’t I come to Comic Relief?”
“Because you’re a joke, George. It’s embarrassing, I can’t walk into Comic Relief with you. Comic Relief is about helping people like you,” Smithy cuttingly replies.
Adele and James Corden do Carpool Karaoke
His words send George into a sulk and it’s only when Smithy turns on the stereo and starts playing I’m Your Man by Wham! that he manages to lift his passenger’s mood.
They are then seen singing the Eighties classic as they drive to the BBC studio in White City. When they arrive Smithy tells George to wait in the car and “not go anywhere”.
The video is very similar to the current incarnation of Carpool Karaoke, which sees James drive his car with a musician in tow belting out their hits interspersed with some chat.
Jennifer Lopez and James Corden do Carpool Karaoke
Carpool Karaoke has proved to be a global phenomenon with the Adele video racking up over 92 million views on YouTube since January.
However, Jennifer Lopez’s Carpool Karaoke earlier this week has amassed a whopping 22 million views on the video platform after it was posted on the site three days ago.
The Late Late Show with James Corden airs weekdays on CBS.