Vanessa Feltz Calls Little Britain’s David Walliams ‘Unfriendly’
Broadcaster Vanessa Feltz says David Walliams was cold and unwelcoming while she filmed a Marjorie Dawes sketch for Little Britain, and that Matt Lucas looked after her. Walliams denies all allegations of misconduct made against him in a separate investigation.
Broadcaster Vanessa Feltz, 64, has said Little Britain star David Walliams was "coldly dispassionate" and "unfriendly" when she filmed a Marjorie Dawes sketch for the comedy series, while co-star Matt Lucas made her feel looked after. She spoke on her At Home With Vanessa podcast, in an episode with guest Tom Swarbrick.
Feltz appeared in the sketch alongside Lucas's character Marjorie Dawes, a weight-loss group leader. The scene required Lucas's character to spit in her face.
The spitting scene
"There was endless discussion about how the spitting was going to occur and what exactly was going to happen, most of it orchestrated by a fairly chilling David Walliams," Feltz said. Lucas did not literally spit in her face, she added.
She said Walliams was "extremely coldly dispassionate about the idea that Matt Lucas was going to spit actual spittle, saliva, right in my face". In the end, the production put a plastic layer over her face. Feltz said that was at Lucas's request.
She recalled Walliams being "really forensic" in insisting the spit be real. "It couldn't be just some glue that looked like spit, it couldn't be simulated," she said. "You had to see the saliva. I remember this so clearly."
Lucas 'eternally grateful'
Asked how she felt at the time, Feltz said she wanted to be "a good sport" on a show she once loved. She praised Lucas for ensuring it was not her actual face that was spat upon.
"I was eternally grateful to him and I still am," she said. She described Walliams as "much colder and much less interested in protecting me".
Feltz said he was also not interested in welcoming her or making her feel part of the team. "I don't think was abundant in social skills," she said, adding that he was "extremely, I would say, unfriendly". Caught up in the technical details and the pressure of the show, she said she tried not to take his alleged coldness personally.
Allegations and denial
Before discussing the set, Feltz and Swarbrick talked about allegations of sexual misconduct and grooming against Walliams. They emerged from a joint three-year investigation by two news organizations. Walliams has denied any wrongdoing.
In response to the allegations, he has said that looking back he realized that at times he "behaved thoughtlessly". He has also said: "I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me."
A representative for Walliams has been contacted for comment on Feltz's remarks.
