The Verve's Richard Ashcroft baffles viewers with bizarre antics on BBC Breakfast show

Richard Ashcroft leaps over the sofa. Pic: BBC screenshot

The iconic '90s rocker was invited on the show to discuss his new solo album Natural Rebel, but ended up trending on Twitter because of his unorthodox interview style.

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But this morning, BBC Breakfast news anchors Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt were left surprised and baffled by his bizarre antics and amusing comments.

The interview begins with Richard staring down the camera lens, saying: "Good morning England. Good morning my family... I believe it's half term at the moment. Stop eating those Quavers and any other cereal!"

Asked why he was wearing sunglasses indoors at 9am, Ashcroft said: "The answer is, great respect for these two as journalists, but I'm the only one on the couch who can wear glasses right now.

"Music becomes almost like a religion, rock and roll is like a religion. Don't ever question one of the key attributes!"

But the wackiness continued when Ashcroft jumped onto the red sofa, prompting an alarmed Charlie to declare, "Oh, he's on the move!"

Richard Ashcroft performing at the Roundhouse London 2016. Pic: Shutterstock by Roy J Baron.

The musician then walked over to the back of the set, addressing the view from the window before saying, "Check this out! I just want to say hello to Manchester!', before accidentally face-planting the glass.

Swiftly recovering, the legendary star said: "Oh! Okay! It IS The Truman Show," before returning to the sofa.

Bringing the conversation back to his new album, he added: 'So Natural Rebel and all this. It's about breaking the order of things.'

And after a clip of Aschcroft's new music video, viewers were greeted with a shot of him lying across the sofa.

He continued: 'We've been on the night shift in the music industry for a while as you'd imagine. Another great thing about the glasses is, I can cover up the fact that I'm getting a bit Nancy Reagan under here at this time of the day, seriously, I need an iron on these (eye bags)."

Richard then chatted about Glastonbury and the nature of music festivals these days, making some valid points.

Asked if he had fond memories of the Glastonbury days, he replied: "Glastonbury's an interesting one for me because the myth, and the name, have grown to such a proportion that they sell out before they've even told us who the acts are. I actually think that's taking away from the power of the music in a sense, because I like to know who the acts are before I buy a ticket.

"Is Glastonbury bigger than the acts now? I don't know."

The discussion then moves on to a morning headline about swearing potentially being banned onstage at festivals.

Ashcroft said that if it's a family festival, he wouldn't really want a performer to be saying "every swear word under the sun on stage," but that some festivals are obviously not family events and so "anything goes." He added: "The majority of rappers would be banned from playing live."

He also appeared to take a pop at Lady Gaga by appealing to fans to buy his new record, which is competing with the A Star Is Born soundtrack in the charts.

'Right now, I'm the only living breathing songwriter at the top of the charts', he said.

The interview concluded with some more amusing banter as Richard pleaded with the BBC to sign presenter Charlie up for Strictly, before adding, 'How do you keep your hair so perfect?'