Paul Weller was forced into a humiliating climb-down at the Brit Awards – he had to apologise to James Blunt for criticising him.

The Modfather had, some would say reasonably, claimed he’d, “rather eat my own shit than duet with James Blunt,” prior to the industry bash last week.

However, Weller – the recipient of the Brits Lifetime Achievement Award – was forced to say sorry to Blunt after learning they would be sitting opposite each other at the ceremony in London.

A source tells The Sun, “ Paul was in a panic after seeing that his table was directly beside James Blunt’s. He realised he had to make some kind of gesture to make sure there was no animosity between the tables.

“Paul gingerly approached James at rehearsals and said he hadn’t meant what he’d said.”