You might recall that, speaking to Erasure's charming singer Andy Bell last year, he revealed that MP-bagging Slavic pop sensation The Cheeky Girls were regular customers at the bread stall where he sometimes helps out his boyfriend.

"I thought maybe I should make them a CD of suggestions of songs that would be good for their voice," he said.

The Quietus recently interviewed Andy Bell for the forthcoming issue of The Stool Pigeon and asked if the Cheeky Girls had popped in to say hello over a baguette and sticky bun.

"I tell you what happened, they did actually come and see me on the market stall and said hullo," Andy told us. "They said they were embarrassed because they didn't realise it was me. I said 'well how would you anyway, don't be embarrassed'."

But has anything developed in terms of a musical hook-up? "There is one song that I wrote not so long ago called 'Going To The Shops' which I think they quite like," says Andy, though he adds they seem to have vanished from Sussex. "I've not seen them for ages though, so I think they might have fled the country, I'm not sure. They're really sweet, really lovely."

Did Andy know that Patrick Wolf had read the interview and been inspired to seek out the Cheekys for a sing song?. Apparently not, and Andy hasn't heard his new record, but added, "I read an interview iwth him in Attitude or something, and I just thought I admire you baby, because it's really tough, it's so tough, especially to be honest."