David Walliams: Two Decades of Jokes About His Love Life Resurface
David Walliams, 55, was the subject of public jokes about his love life on British TV and radio for more than 20 years. After allegations from several women, which he denies, those references have raised questions about whether the industry ignored claims about star names.
David Walliams, 55, was the subject of public jokes about his love life on British television and radio for more than 20 years. Those references have raised fresh questions about whether the entertainment industry ignored or indulged claims about bankable stars. Walliams denies any wrongdoing.
The questions follow allegations by several women that Walliams used his power and celebrity status to prey on young women and teenagers for sex. Two of the women said they first met him when they were 15.
A sketch, an awards show and a radio chat
A 2013 sketch for the BBC's Comic Relief campaign opened in a doctor's office. A trouserless Walliams was told to contact "everyone you've been intimate with over the last year". He then visited a string of celebrity homes, including those of Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow, Alan Carr, Clare Balding, David Schwimmer and Hugh Grant.
The most striking reference came at the 2004 British Comedy Awards. Host Jonathan Ross noted the event was 15 years old. "And like all 15-year-olds, it's drunk, it's unpredictable and it's probably going home with David Walliams," he said, as the camera panned to Walliams.
Ross has since said it is now "deeply shocking" to revisit the footage. He said the awards' scriptwriting team submitted the joke to him. He believed the punchline referred to Walliams having publicly dated younger women, "exaggerated for comic effect".
TV insiders point out that several people on the production would have seen the joke before it reached Ross. One insider said it appeared to be a "degree of enabling" inside the industry.
More references across the media
In 2004, Walliams appeared on Scott Mills' BBC Radio 1 show. Mills told him his image was "kind of womaniser" and asked whether men tried to keep him away from their girlfriends. Walliams replied that he was a gentleman, not "some sort of rabid animal".
Five years later, Carr said on his Channel 4 talk show Chatty Man that Walliams was "a bit like an illegal taxi driver", luring women into a false sense of security before pouncing. Carr was referring to Walliams' camp persona.
In 2006, at the launch of the second series of Britain's Next Top Model, Jimmy Carr said he was there to meet "David Walliams' next conquest". In 2021, a character in the BBC show Motherland said she would like to be a dad and a children's author, "a bit like David Walliams, but less sinister".
Walliams' response
Lawyers for Walliams said he had made no secret that, during a period of his life, "he enjoyed the company of women". They said he acknowledges this was a popular topic of the tabloid press.
The same questions were asked after Russell Brand's conviction for rape and sexual assault, given that Brand and others made numerous references to his advances towards women.
