David Walliams 'locked in a prison cell for seven hours' during Italy trip

07 October 2023 , 17:34

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David Walliams recalls how he kept busy locked in Italian prison cell for seven hours (Image: UK Press via Getty Images)

David Walliams has revealed how he beat boredom after being detained in Italy, revealing that "time passed very well" in his cell because of one simple trick.

Speaking at the Henley Literary Festival, the children's book author was asked during a Q&A section to reveal his favourite writing spot. He responded by detailing a lengthy airport ordeal he endured in Italy, after being stopped by authorities over his illegitimate identification document.

"Recently I went to Venice for a little weekend, and I have two passports. One that is out of date, and one that isn’t. By accident, I picked up the out-of-date one. And this wasn’t spotted at Heathrow. It wasn’t until I arrived at Venice that it was spotted. And I was taken away by the Italian police, and I was locked in the cell for seven hours," he recalled.

David Walliams spent 7 hours in an Italian police cell recently (ITV)

The children's book author has revealed that his airport jail experience was surprisingly helpful to his writing (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

The ex Britain's Got Talent judge was fortunately able to stay busy, however, because he had his "fully charged" laptop with him. "I sat there, and I typed for seven hours straight, and the time passed very well. So the best place to write, for me, is an Italian prison cell," the 52-year-old said.

At another point of the session, David was quizzed by a younger member of the audience about his departure from Britain's Got Talent last year. The comic decided against explaining, however, replying, "Ask me again when you're 18 years old, and you'll find out the answer." He later quipped that he suspected a parent had told the child to challenge him on the tricky subject, after hailing it as the best question of the evening.

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David role on Britain's Got Talent came to an end back in January, after offensive comments he allegedly made about contestants while serving as a judge on the ITV talent show were published by the Guardian the previous November. In the leaked recordings, the father-of-one could be heard referring to auditionees in a derogatory manner.

In response, David released the following statement: "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.”

Thames TV, which is part of the production company that makes Britain's Got Talent, FremantleMedia, said it viewed Walliams' comments as private, but acknowledged that his use of language was "inappropriate".

It was reported last month that David had filed a lawsuit, which is being listed as dealing with data protection, against FremantleMedia. He has since been replaced as a Britain's Got Talent judge by Strictly Come Dancing's Bruno Tonioli, after starring on the show for 10 years.

Emma Dooney