David Walliams is facing sexual misconduct allegations, prompting a look back at his long and sometimes strained friendship with former comedy partner Matt Lucas. The two were once one of the UK's best-known double acts, creating the controversial sketch show Little Britain.
From Meeting to Stardom
Lucas and Walliams met in 1990 at the National Youth Theatre, bonding over being the "funny ones" in their groups. They launched Little Britain as a TV show between 2003 and 2006, known for its exaggerated parodies of the British public. The show was popular at the time but has since been criticised for offensive tropes and problematic depictions of racial and minority groups. It was pulled from streaming services in 2020 due to its use of blackface, then added back to BBC iPlayer in 2022 with some controversial characters edited out.
The Fallout and Reconciliation
Despite working closely for decades, their friendship became strained during the Little Britain Live tour in 2005 and their tour of Australia in 2007. According to Lucas's autobiography Little Me, the pair clashed backstage and were often at "loggerheads" over minor things, such as what kind of chocolate to request or arguments over Walliams' facial hair. These disagreements occasionally escalated into screaming matches and shouting obscenities at each other.
After their second sketch show together, Come Fly With Me, the duo officially ended their professional partnership in 2011 and drifted apart. Lucas took swipes at Walliams in his 2012 autobiography, and Walliams did the same in his memoir, Camp David. Lucas wrote that Walliams had "sold so many children's books he can probably buy his own private jet, all decked out in pink, with a river inside it for him to swim up," alluding to Walliams' charity swims. Walliams said they were "very different people and probably want different things," adding that their relationship was "over for the time being."
The former best friends came to a truce in 2018 after their mutual friend Dale Winton died, with the pair thought to have reconnected at his funeral. They publicly reunited at a fancy dress party in 2019 and later appeared in the Little Britain spin-off, Little Brexit.
Recent Projects and Allegations
Describing their reformed friendship in 2020, Lucas told The Sun: "What I can say is that David and I are the very best of friends and we speak or exchange messages every single day." He added that they had plans to resurrect Little Britain "as soon as we can." Last year, they launched the twice-weekly podcast Making A Scene. Earlier this year, Walliams said Little Britain might return to Netflix as you "can't get cancelled there." The pair also said they have been working on a stage show.
Walliams was named in a sexual misconduct investigation by the Guardian and ITV News after trying to obtain an injunction to prevent reporting of allegations against him. One woman described her alleged encounter with Walliams, when she was 15, as a "sexual assault," while multiple women accused him of "grooming" them when they were teenagers. Walliams has denied all allegations of wrongdoing, stating: "I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me."
