Bono became the "class clown" in a bid to attract Ali Hewson

Bono told 'The Project': "She did seem to be taking an interest in his guitar playing and, as hard as I might practise, I just knew I couldn't touch this guy.

"So I had to become, you know, the class clown."

Ali and The Edge were in the same year at school, and she still has a strong friendship with the rocker.

Bono quipped: "They're still really close - and they still talk about me behind my back.

"They say it's out of concern."

Bono previously admitted that Ali's life would have been easier if he wasn't a member of U2.

The chart-topping star acknowledged that fame and success has complicated his love life.

Bono - whose real name is Paul Hewson - said in his 2022 memoir 'Surrender': "Ali would have been happier with a life that was simpler than the one we've ended up with ... Though not demanding in any selfish way, Ali had never been 'just' my girlfriend, and now she was never going to be 'just' my wife."

Bono observed that his bandmates - The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr - have always been a prominent part of their lives.

He said: "There were air pockets from the beginning, like, say, my immaturity. Married at 22 going on 18.

"She was also realising that there were three other men in her marriage. Men whom she was more than fond of, but men who were taking her man away, not just in his wild imaginings, but physically, all over the world."

Bono has also suggested that friendship has been the key to his marriage.

The rock star said at the New Yorker Festival in 2022: "If you ask me seriously, friendship can outpace romantic love, sometimes. And friendship is what myself and Ali have.

"When you have romantic love and friendship, that's really something special."