Alesha Dixon has defended her former Britain’s Got Talent colleague David Walliams after it emerged he made a series of derogatory remarks about contestants, prompting his exit from the show.
Dixon and Walliams both joined the variety competition show’s judging panel in season six in 2012.
However, the Little Britain comic, 52, exited the programme after season 15 in 2022 after it emerged that he had made sexually explicit and derogatory remarks about some of the contestants during a recording at the London Palladium in January 2020.
Walliams’ comments were picked up by the microphones on the desk and were seemingly not intended to be heard publicly.
Walliams was dropped from Britain’s Got Talent and replaced with former Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli, who has appeared alongside Dixon and long-time judges Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden ever since.
In a new interview, Dixon, 45, has spoken up in Walliams’ favour and recalled their relationship warmly.
“David is a friend and I love him dearly. I was there for him, am there for him and he’s a part of my life,” Dixon told The Times, adding that Walliams has always been respectful to her.
She also noted that Walliams’ background as a comic was a factor in his offensive comments.
According to the transcripts, Walliams allegedly referred to an elderly contestant as a “c**t” multiple times and described a female contestant as “the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don’t”.
“One of the things about comedians – he taught me this years ago – is that, unfortunately, they live their life on the edge: they’re always on the edge of taking something too far,” Dixon continued.
“That’s the part of me that has compassion because I understand that dilemma.
“When you have private conversations with friends and you’re bantering, as a comedian, it’s a very difficult position to be in.”
When the recording was made public in 2022, Walliams apologised for the comments, telling The Independent: “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.”
Tonioli was later announced as Walliams’ replacement in January 2023.
Then, in September 2023, Walliams sued FremantleMedia, the production company that makes BGT over his private remarks being leaked, before the matter was settled in November.
