Paloma likes being pals with 'naughty' rob

Laura Butler

POPSTAR Paloma Faith has revealed she has formed an unlikely friendship with Love/Hate's Robert Sheehan.

The 32-year-old told the Herald that she and Portlaoise native Rob (26) met at a swanky party in London and quickly became pals as they were like "the naughty kids" of the room.

"We get on really well, we'd be mates. He's very naughty - and so am I," Paloma said.

"That's why we get on, we're like the bold kids. If we see each other, he's like, 'Thank God - somebody to get in trouble with'," she said.

"I get invited to all these celebrity parties all the time and I don't usually like them, but I got invited to quite a special one, a Louis Vuitton one, and I wanted to go to it by myself to test to see if I had a better time if I was on my own.

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"I met him at that and he couldn't believe that I'd gone by myself. I ended up getting mad stories about celebrities who had sex with each other, it was great," she added.

The Can't Rely on You singer admitted that she has not seen gangland hit Love/Hate, in which Rob played heartthrob assassin Darren, and said that the pair do not talk about their respective careers when hanging out.

Paloma was in town over the weekend as one of the headline acts at the second annual Groove Festival, held at Kilruddery Estate in Bray, Co Wicklow.

The songwriter and actress, who wowed crowds on Saturday night, flew to Ireland in 2011 to perform as part of Arthur's Day.

Upon hearing the news that Guinness have axed the event in the wake of criticism about the consumption of too much alcohol, Paloma said she was disappointed.

"That's sad they've cancelled it, I had a great time playing at it," she said.

"I didn't get offered a single pint of Guinness when I played at it, not one.

"So I can tell you it's not a boozefest."

Paloma, who last week won an award at the Nordoff Robbins Silver Clef Awards in the UK, is sceptical that Guinness Amplify, a new scheme to support emerging artists over five weekends, will work.

"You should have emerging musicians opening for well-known people so they're actually seen." David Gray closed Groove Festival last night.

hnews@herald.ie