London Olympics 2012: Noel Gallagher Snubbed Closing Ceremony in Miming Row

Noel Gallagher has revealed that he was asked to perform at the Olympics closing ceremony - but turned it down after organisers told him to mime.

The 45-year-old ex-Oasis star revealed that, although his brother Liam's band Beady Eye agreed to play, he was too affronted by the organisers' furtive, safety-first approach to follow suit.

In an interview with XFM's Danny Wallace, he said: "I was asked to do it a long time ago and, to be frank, they were being so secretive about it.

"I was like 'Who else is playing?' and they were like 'We can't tell you, you've got to sign a confidentiality agreement'. It's like it's the Iran nuclear programme or something.

"And then they wanted me to do it acoustically - and then they wanted me to mime. And I'm all for miming in TV shows - but if you're in a stadium with 80,000 people and you're pretending? I can play live!

"I said [to one of the organisers] 'Why do you want me to mime?' and he said 'It's a big gig'. Really? I do this s**t for a living.

"In the end, I was just like, you know what, I'd rather watch it on the telly."

Among the highlights of Beady Eye's performance in Stratford was their performance of Wonderwall, Oasis's 1995 hit which was penned by Noel.

Before they could play the song at the closing ceremony, Liam and his bandmates had to ask Noel's permission - and the elder Gallagher admits he made it difficult for his younger brother's band.

He said: "They had to re-record it and then send it to me. I did play a bit of cat and mouse with them for a few days - I took it till Friday night at 10 o'clock before I said yes and they were s******g it."