Hurtful insult about Noel’s daughter by Liam’s son that led to a rift

It is an insult that would bring tears to the eyes of most teenage girls. ‘U look like ur dad with a blonde wig on,’ tweeted Gene Gallagher, son of Oasis frontman Liam about his cousin, Anais – daughter of Noel.

The jibe came after Anais, then 17, had proudly walked the runway at Tommy Hilfiger’s 2017 show at London Fashion Week. 

Gene, 16, doubled down, saying the person who chose his cousin to model for the brand was ‘a complete doughnut who should have gone to Specsavers’.

Given the spectacular rift between their fathers, perhaps it’s not surprising their offspring were on such bitter terms.

But, as the Mail can now reveal, since that spat in 2017, Gene and Anais have overcome their own animus and been instrumental in persuading their dads to bury the hatchet and reunite as Oasis.

Their rapprochement was a big factor in Liam and Noel’s reunion, which was confirmed on Tuesday when the brothers announced a string of summer tour dates in Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh, London and Dublin.

A friend of the stars revealed: ‘Anais and Gene led the way by showing their dads that they could set aside their differences.’

The pair are big fans of their fathers’ music, despite only being small children when Oasis last performed together at V Festival in Staffordshire in 2009 before their infamous bust-up in Paris at the Rock en Seine festival.

Anais, 24, whose mother is Meg Matthews, Noel’s first wife, has said she loves her dad’s music ‘genuinely more than anything’, adding: ‘I bang out Oasis and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds in my room super-loud all the time.’

She still remembers being backstage with her dad and uncle at Wembley Stadium in 2009, but it is not the music she recalls, rather the absence of Cadbury Buttons in the dressing room. ‘I was very upset, it was a huge travesty for eight-year-old me,’ she has said.

Meanwhile, her cousin Gene (Liam’s son with Nicole Appleton) – whose ‘all-time favourite’ Oasis song is Wonderwall – has accompanied his father on his solo Definitely, Maybe tour this summer.

Gene’s band Villanelle is Liam’s warm-up act. But, in typical style, Liam made his son audition for the gig, telling him: ‘Go on, let’s see what you’re made of because if you’re s*** you’re not playing.’

Even so, the time together has given father and son plenty of heart-to-heart moments. A source said: ‘Liam has seen the passion the younger generation have for the Oasis tracks. Some of them weren’t even born when the band split.’

 A source said: ‘It hadn’t dawned on Noel and Liam until recently that their own kids had never properly seen them together. They didn’t want to wait until it was too late to show them why they are Britain’s biggest band.’

Another added: ‘Gene and Anais have made no bones about it, they told their dads that they love their old music and wanted to see them on the stage together.’

It was a picture posted to Gene’s Instagram page in December last year that proved there was no longer any animosity between him and Anais.

Gene was all smiles alongside his cousin and older brother Lennon, whose mother is Patsy Kensit, as they posed with Manchester City footballer Ruben Dias. An image, friends say, that delighted their Manchester City-mad fathers.

It was taken at the after-party of the annual Chanel Metiers d’Art fashion show, which was held in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. The pair even marked their firm friendship with a joint interview and photoshoot in the fashion bible Vogue, as they gushed about the wardrobes of their rockstar fathers.

A friend tells me: ‘Anais and Gene have both become really close in recent years. Gene doesn’t let many people into his circle, as he is wary of newcomers who just want to get near his famous family. Anais knows exactly what that feels like and it brought them together.

‘They are both a lot more mature now, and can look back and laugh about their teenage rows. They message all the time and the very best thing they felt they could do was to encourage their fathers to do the same.’

Anais first attended Bedales, a liberal private school in Hampshire, before she headed to the £20,000-a-year King Alfred School in Hampstead, north London, for sixth form – the same school her younger cousin attended.

As Gene’s social media jibes at his cousin indicate, it was not an instantaneous friendship. But friends say it is no surprise they bonded as they grew older as the pair are both ‘very creative’.

Anais, who went on to attend the University of Arts London, is a passionate photographer, and has modelled for some of the world’s top brands including Dolce & Gabbana.

Gene has also worked as a model alongside actor Jude Law’s son Rafferty, actor Daniel Day-Lewis’s son Gabriel-Kane and model and musician Suki Waterhouse’s sister Maddi. His indie rock group Villanelle will begin its debut UK headline tour later this year.

Despite their own reputations for hedonism, when it comes to their offspring, Liam and Noel are both strict dads – something that has not gone unnoticed by the two cousins. While Liam liked a tidy home – ‘There was no leaving stuff on the floor, we weren’t allowed slime,’ Gene has confessed – Noel was ‘very strict’ with his daughter when it came to parties and boys.

A source said: ‘There is a certain irony that even though they have had so many fallouts and differences, Liam and Noel have made strikingly similar fathers, at least when it came to Anais and Gene.’

Friends say that Anais’ friendship with Gene has also brought her close to Liam, who was absent during her childhood.

Anais is said to ‘love’ her uncle’s sarcasm and was with Liam before his Reading Festival gig on Sunday, when two images appeared on screen – one that said ‘8am’ and the other ’27/8/2024′ – teasing news that a reunion was imminent.

As well as Gene and Lennon, 24, Liam’s sprawling brood includes Molly, 26, whose mother is the singer Lisa Moorish. They also have an 11-year-old sister Gemma, who lives in New York with her American journalist mother Liza Ghorbani.

Gemma’s paternity was only confirmed after her mother filed a $3million lawsuit against Liam for child support. The revelation of his affair and love child ended Liam’s six-year marriage to Gene’s mother Nicole Appleton in 2014, and a divorce judge ruled the couple have to split their £11million fortune equally.

Aside from Anais, Noel has two sons, Donovan and Sonny, who were born in 2007 and 2010. Their mother Sara MacDonald split from Noel last year, and was reportedly awarded a divorce settlement of £20million plus an £8million mansion in Hampshire.

Perhaps it’s little surprise that the expensive divorce was said to be a persuading factor in Noel’s decision to commit to the reunion tour, which industry sources say will net the brothers £50million each.

When the news of the reunion was announced, Anais was one of the first to celebrate. She shared old photos of her father and uncle’s heyday, captioning it simply: ‘Summer 2025.’

Indeed, it will summer of partying for the Oasis offspring – but only if their dads let them.