Monkey joke flies over 3AM heads

There's surprising news in today's Daily Mirror, as the 3AM rush to print an exclusive (by which, we mean something they read in the NME):

HERE'S a shock for all you indie kids... Arctic Monkeys are threatening to let Girls Aloud's Sarah Harding loose on their third album.

Really? You don't think, perhaps, that was a joke?

Frontman Alex Turner tells this week's NME: "I'm finding less and less to say. I'm wilting as a frontman, right, so I'm thinking, third album, we'll just get Sarah Harding to front the band.

"I'll sing some of the old songs to keep the hardcore happy and then all the new tunes can just be her."

Oh. So he was joking, then.