David Walliams joked he wasn't needed on Britain's Got Talent in awkward scenes filmed before his shock exit.
The judge and comedian has reportedly quit his role on the panel, a position he has had for a decade, with Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon all thought to be staying on the show. As he joined what is expected to be his last appearance as a Britain's Got Talent judge for the Ultimate Magicians special, he awkwardly joked he was surplus to requirements.
David sat on the panel alongside Alesha, Amanda and Penn, who was standing in for Simon.
As host Stephen Mulhern mentioned that the audience had the final say tonight, with the judges just there to offer their opinions and critiques but wouldn't have any say on who would be crowned the show's champion.
"We're irrelevant. We're surplus to requirement," he told Stephen, before joking: "Like you are on Saturday Night Takeaway."
David then joked he was "surplus to requirements" in the awkward scenes, which were filmed before he quit the ITV show.
Britain's Got Talent fans were left stunned recently when it was reported David Walliams had quit as a judge on the upcoming series of the ITV talent show. He had been a judge on the show for 10 years, and wanted to "leave on a high," source claimed.
"David has decided to bow out after a ten-year run. He wants to leave on a high after a wonderful time," an insider said, "Being on the show has been a huge source of entertainment and joy for him and he is arguably the most popular member of the panel."
The source added: "David has decided to bow out after a ten-year run. He wants to leave on a high after a wonderful time.”
Earlier this year, David was forced to apologise after comments he made about contestants on the ITV show were leaked. A leaked transcript from the ITV show saw that David made crude references about one woman and called a pensioner a 'c***' during filming for Britain's Got Talent back in 2020. David apologised for making 'disrespectful comments', which were made during filming breaks.
His co-stars Amanda Holden, 51, Alesha Dixon, 44, and Simon Cowell, 63, are all expected to return to the show.
A BGT spokesperson told The Mirror: "The judging panel for 2023 will be announced in due course."
Simon had previously insisted that it was the show's talent that was most important, rather than the judges.
"For me the most important thing is the talent. It’s always about that. If you don’t have great talent, you don’t have a show. That’s all I care about," Simon told the Daily Star as he discussed the panel's future on the show.
