David Walliams' BGT scandal explained and 'feud' with Simon Cowell

27 September 2023 , 11:31

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Cowell claims he wasn't involved in Walliams' decision to leave BGT (Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Although David Walliams isn't suing the top dog of Britain's Got Talent Simon Cowell, there is growing friction between the pair, according to reports. The comedian quit as a judge on the ITV competition last year after offensive comments he made about contestants were leaked, including an audio recording of him describing one singer as a "c**t".

The 52-year-old is now reportedly suing the show's production company, Fremantle, over the scandal, according to The Sun. But Walliams' move has left his relationship with head judge Simon 'on the rocks', sources claim.

The children's author joined the judging panel in 2012 alongside Simon Cowell, 63, Amanda Holden, 52, and Alesha Dixon, 44. He then announced his departure in November 2022 after being forced to apologise for his disrespectful conversations made during filming at the London Palladium in 2020. He told fans it was "time to move on and focus on his other projects", and former Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli took his place.

The judges worked together for a decade (SIPA USA/PA Images)

Walliams left BGT after the recordings came to light (Aaron Parfitt / SplashNews.com)

The scandal erupted when the Guardian obtained several transcripts of recorded conversations between Walliams and an unknown person. In one, he called a male pensioner a "c**t" on three occasions after the hopeful appeared to make a jibe at Walliams. Another comment came after a female auditionee walked off the stage, with Walliams heard to be saying: "She's like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f**k them, but you don't."

At the time, Cowell distanced himself from the Little Britain star's exit, telling The Sun: "I didn't really get involved in the decision.

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"From what I understand, he decided to take a step back. It all happened relatively quickly. I was on holiday and then the next thing is I'm having conversations about who's going to take his place." Simon added: "We did say to the two producers: 'You have to make the final decision' because, yeah, I am an exec producer, but they're more hands on. Obviously everyone had some input - the network, the producers Fremantle, all of us said at the time, these comments are completely unacceptable."

Defending his long-time friend, the head judge went on to say that during his 10 years on the show alongside Walliams, he hadn't seen any other inappropriate behaviour from him. "I had not heard them before and, yeah, it was upsetting. But from where I'm sitting, this wasn't something I believe was ­constant," he explained. "Most of the time David seemed very respectful and emotional about the contestants and was doing ­everything that a judge should be doing on a show like this."

Now, The Mail says sources have suggested there's a 'distance' growing between pals Walliams and Cowell, who developed a close bond during their stint together on the family programme.

Walliams apologised for his offensive remarks (Syco / Thames / Dymond)

Walliams' crude comments were picked up on microphones used by judges when sitting at their desk in the centre of the auditorium. His lawyers have reportedly argued they were part of private conversations that were never intended for broadcast.

Once leaked by the Guardian, the comic released a statement apologising for his actions. He said: "I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming for Britain’s Got Talent in 2020. These were private conversations and – like most conversations with friends – were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry."

According to The Sun, the children's author lodged papers at London's High Court last Thursday, submitted under his real name, David Edward Williams. The former BGT judge has accused production company Fremantle of a 'data protection breach' over the leaked transcript which ended his career on the hugely popular ITV show. Walliams has reportedly hired legal powerhouse, Brandsmiths, who specialise in data protection breaches. The Mirror has contacted David Walliams' representatives for comment.

Saffron Otter