Britain's Got Talent bosses reportedly investigated allegations against David Walliams six years ago but did not find a 'smoking gun' to remove him from the show. The former ITV judge, 55, has been accused of grooming teenage girls as young as 15 and abusing his position to pursue women, in a new investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. Walliams denies the allegations, which come after he unsuccessfully attempted to block publication of the claims by obtaining an injunction.
Investigation in 2020
It has now been reported that Britain's Got Talent looked into Walliams's behaviour in 2020, following claims on social media and from journalists that he had acted inappropriately at the Fountain Studios in Wembley. BGT sources told the Daily Mail that they were unable to verify whether the guests in Walliams's dressing room were people he had met on social media.
Fan of the show Abby Tomlinson has claimed that she and a 13-year-old girl were left alone with Walliams in his BGT dressing room with the door closed, which his lawyers have denied. They have insisted that the door to his dressing room was always left open and that young women were placed on the list by his personal assistant, according to the report in the Mail.
No formal complaints
There were reportedly no formal complaints about Walliams made to Fremantle, the production company that makes BGT. A show source told the publication of the investigation: 'Because there were no formal complaints, it was on a more informal basis with no external company brought in to look at it. There was no evidence found, the girls would have been on the friends and family list, so nobody had a clue who they were.'
Walliams served as a judge on Britain's Got Talent for a decade, joining in 2012 and departing in 2022, when he was found to have made sexually explicit and derogatory remarks towards some of the contestants.
Calls for change
Allegations of sexual misconduct and grooming against Walliams have sparked calls to make it easier to report concerns about the behaviour of powerful celebrities. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she would be meeting with senior media and entertainment industry members to 'draw a line in the sand', in the wake of Russell Brand's conviction for rape this week as well.
In a letter Walliams sent to journalists working on the investigation, he denied being a 'sexual predator', adding that he 'behaved thoughtlessly' but had not broken the law. The Metropolitan Police confirmed it contacted the Guardian and ITV News to 'ensure that any potential victims' are 'made aware of how they could report any criminal allegations to police', after the sexual misconduct claims were made.
After the allegations emerged on Tuesday, he was also dropped by his literary agency, Independent Talent Group, and the BBC began removing his shows, including Little Britain, from iPlayer.
