Nearly two decades before he was accused of sexual misconduct, David Walliams opened up about how much he loved being with women. Earlier in the week, the former Britain's Got Talent judge was named as the high-profile celebrity who lost his bid for an injunction to prevent the publication of allegations against him.
Allegations in ITV and Guardian investigation
A joint three-year investigation by ITV News and The Guardian has alleged he preyed on teenage girls as young as 15. The Little Britain star is accused of "abusing his status" to engage in "inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities" with multiple women and girls.
One woman, known as Alex, claimed she met Walliams at a fan event when she was 15 in 2004, and they kept in touch before having sex when she was 17. Another, named 'Jade' in the investigation, claims Walliams sexually assaulted her when she was 15 after he made contact with her over the internet in 2007.
2009 Desert Island Discs comments
In 2009, Walliams opened up about his personal life and sexuality, admitting he had not been in a loving relationship since rising to fame seven years prior. During an appearance on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4, Kirsty Young, the presenter at the time, asked him outright: "Have you ever had a relationship with a man?"
Walliams responded: "No." When the radio host questioned whether he thought he ever would, Walliams said: "If I fell in love with a man then, yeah, I wouldn't say that could never happen. I think about it; because I am effeminate I've always thought about it, 'Am I gay?'"
He continued: "And then, I so love being with women, and I so love women's bodies and all that. I think, well no, I can't be. But sometimes I think it would just be simpler if I was, because everyone thinks I am. I'm quite camp, but no, I don't think I am. If I was gay, I would just get on with it. But definitely I love women, I love being around women, I find them incredible and intoxicating, and I've never had that feeling I get with women with a man."
Walliams denies allegations
Walliams denies the allegations of wrongdoing against him, including criminal activity. He says claims he targeted teenage women and used his celebrity status to manipulate them to have sex with him are false. He says he has never engaged in the grooming of young women. Walliams rejects allegations that he behaved inappropriately or sexually harassed anyone in the workplace.
In a statement to the Guardian and ITV News, the comedian said: "Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with... I realise I did not always take people's feelings properly into account. That is something I regret. And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something that I never did... I am not a sexual predator... I have not broken the law... I am devastated that some of the women I met ten to twenty years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me."
