Olly Murs tried to text his estranged twin brother Ben in the hopes of reconciliation – but he had changed his number.
The 34-year-old singer fell out with his sibling back in 2009, when he opted to appear on ‘The X Factor’ rather than be the best man at Ben’s wedding, and has said that when he tried to send a birthday message to Ben, he discovered his text went undelivered as he had changed his phone number and not given Olly the updated digits.
He said: "I did text him this year and wished him a happy birthday. I felt it was the right time to reach out and try to ignite some kind of conversation. But it was the wrong phone number."
The situation is particularly "touchy" for Olly, because Ben – who took on his wife’s surname Hart in order to distance himself from his family – has even stopped talking to their own mother.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror newspaper, Olly added: "It’s difficult, it’s sad and it always has been a touchy subject for me because it’s not just me and him, there are a lot of other people involved, i.e. my mum. She gave birth to us, had both of us in her arms. That is why it’s a tricky situation because he didn’t just make a decision based on me, it was my whole family he didn’t want to see any more."
Last year, Ben spoke about the rift between him and the ‘Troublemaker’ singer, and slammed his family as "greedy".
He said: "I was very close to my parents but fame and greed changed everything."
Meanwhile, Olly claimed last year he and his brother still had love for one another, and hoped their warring would end soon.
He said in June: "Every artist has a dark side or something that is against them, mine was always my brother.
"I think there’s still a love there between all of us, it’s just about finding a resolution and finding that moment in time where you can make it all come together and be fine."
Olly Murs tried to end feud with brother Ben
