Britain’s Got Talent production company Fremantle has apologised and settled with David Walliams after comments he made while working on the show were leaked.
Walliams made derogatory and sexually explicit remarks about contestants during the recording of an episode of the ITV talent show, which he was a judge on between 2012 and 2022.
The comedian, real name David Edward Williams, was suing producer Fremantle for misuse of private information and for breaching UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
According to high court documents released last month, the TV personality was accusing the company of causing him psychiatric harm and financial loss. It has now apologised and said it has reached an “amicable resolution”.
A Fremantle spokesperson said in a statement to the PA news agency: “We are pleased that we have achieved an amicable resolution of this dispute with David. We are sincerely sorry that his private conversations when a judge on Britain’s Got Talent were published, and the great distress this caused David.
“We have reviewed our production practices on the show to ensure they fully respect the expectations of our talent whilst satisfying the requirements of the show. We have enjoyed a great relationship with David over many years.
“We thank David for being an important part of the Britain’s Got Talent family and the enduring success of the show and hope to have opportunities to work with him in the future.”
Walliams, one of the UK’s best-known television personalities and children’s book authors, was recorded referring to one contestant as a “cunt” and saying of another: “She thinks you want to fuck her, but you don’t.”
The offensive remarks were made during a recorded audition show at the London Palladium in January 2020. Lawyers for Walliams and Thames TV, the production company behind Britain’s Got Talent, argued the comments were part of a private conversation never intended for broadcast.
One of the incidents captured in the transcript involved an older performer who engaged in some lighthearted banter with the judges in which he made a jibe about Walliams.
After an unsuccessful audition, the pensioner walked off stage. When he was out of earshot, the transcript suggests Walliams described him as a “cunt” three times.
His comments were picked up by microphones used to capture discussions between the judges when they are sitting at their desk in the centre of the auditorium. The recordings are understood to have been made for potential broadcast in Britain’s Got Talent or other spin-off shows, which often feature candid remarks made by the judges between auditions.
The other incident occurred shortly after a female contestant auditioning on the same show had walked off stage. When her performance was over, Walliams remarked: “She’s like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to fuck them, but you don’t.”
Walliams reiterated: “She thinks you want to fuck her, but you don’t.”
He then added: “I know, she’s just like: ‘Oh, fuck off!’ I was saying, she thinks you want to fuck her, but you don’t. It’s the last thing on your mind, but she’s like: ‘Yep, I bet you do!’ ‘No I don’t!’ I had a bit of a boner, but now it’s going, it’s now shrivelled up inside my body.”
In a statement at the time, Walliams 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.”
