James Corden has poked fun at the recent backlash to the film Cats as he responded to claims that his Carpool Karaoke sketch is faked. 

The Late Late Show host was reacting to a viral video shared online last week, which showed his car being towed along by a rig, while he filmed a new edition of the recurring segment with Justin Bieber.

Opening Wednesday’s episode of his talk show, the Gavin & Stacey creator conceded “this looks bad” but called it “fake news”, insisting he is at the wheel “95%” of the time.

He added that he always drives the car unless there is a safety issue.

James explained said: “95% of the time I really am endangering the lives of the world’s biggest pop stars. But this is a TV show, not everything is real.

“Our show doesn’t tape after midnight – we tape at 5pm and pretend that it’s late.”

Joking about the critical mauling Cats received while poking fun at the reaction to the Carpool Karaoke video, James – who plays Bustopher Jones in the big-screen musical – said: “I’m just shocked I’ve done something that upset people more than Cats.”

Executive producer Ben Winston previously set the record straight on the fakery claims, tweeting: “We only use a rig when we are doing a ‘stunt’ as part of the Carpool – when it would be impossible for James to drive!” Ben insisted. “This has occurred only maybe 4 times in 50 or so carpools… Safety is key!

“By stunt I mean – dance routines / costumes / props etc ! Dont worry too much though. I’m pretty sure there are bigger issues to worry about!”

The Late Late Show’s Twitter account also poked fun at the controversy in a tweet:

Since he became host of The Late Late Show in 2015, James has taken a host of A-listers for a spin in the recurring sketch, including everyone from Sir Paul McCartney and Madonna to Harry Styles and Billie Eilish.