ALLEN'S TEARS OVER BRAND/ROSS SCANDAL

Brand quit his job as a BBC radio presenter earlier this week (beg27Oct08) following outrage over a stunt in which he and fellow broadcaster Jonathan Ross recorded voicemail messages for Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs.

In the calls, the pair made lewd comments about Brand's fling with 78-year-old Sachs' granddaughter.

And the Smile hitmaker insists she was devastated by the saga that eventually cost Brand his job and saw Ross suspended for 12 weeks without pay.

She tells The London Paper, "I cried all yesterday. I didn’t think it was too offensive. It wasn’t the funniest thing in the world but it wasn’t that bad."

Allen also admits to having made similar prank calls herself.

She adds, "I make these p**s-taking calls all the time. I once called up Kate Nash’s PR and said I was from a mouthwash company. I said we wanted Kate to front the brand. They told me they’d put it to Kate and get back to me.�