Journalist Marina Hyde has suggested that people working behind the scenes on Britain's Got Talent deliberately leaked recordings of David Walliams' controversial comments about contestants in an attempt to force the comedian's departure from the ITV show.
Walliams quit his role as a judge in November 2022 after recordings of derogatory remarks he made during filming emerged. The comments, made during breaks at auditions at the London Palladium in 2020, included him calling an elderly male contestant a "c***" three times after he had left the stage. He also described a female contestant as "like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don't".
The recordings were obtained and published by The Guardian, but Hyde has questioned whether their release was part of a deliberate effort to remove Walliams from the programme.
Claims of a Leak Plot
Speaking on her podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, which she co-hosts with Richard Osman, Hyde said: "Did we know that people were trying to get rid of him? Operatives, I don't know who and I don't know at what level... who leaked those comments? They were trying to get rid, someone at some level in Britain's Got Talent was trying to get rid of him."
Hyde also pointed to Walliams' subsequent legal action against the show's production company, Fremantle, as significant. The comedian sued the company over the recording and retention of conversations made during his decade on the programme, claiming his private information had been misused and data protection laws breached.
Legal Action and Aftermath
Court documents reportedly alleged that around 1,700 hours of audio had been collected, with Walliams claiming he had been unaware that his microphone had been left recording throughout filming days. He also said he had suffered severe depression following his departure and experienced active suicidal thoughts.
The dispute was eventually resolved, with Fremantle issuing an apology over the recordings becoming public. Hyde suggested Walliams' decision to take the matter to the High Court demonstrated how seriously he believed the material had been leaked. She said: "He clearly thought that they had leaked it deliberately."
She also argued that the legal action sent a message about Walliams' willingness to pursue litigation against those he believed had wronged him.
It has since emerged that The Guardian first approached Walliams about allegations of inappropriate conduct around the time he left Britain's Got Talent in November 2022. The allegations were denied, and no story was published at the time. The newspaper later joined forces with ITV News in 2023 to investigate the comedian, with their findings published on Tuesday.
Osman Reflects on Industry Culture
Meanwhile, Osman reflected on his own experiences working with Walliams, admitting he wishes he had done more to ensure people felt safe in the television industry. Before becoming a bestselling author with his Thursday Murder Club novels, Osman worked as a television producer and executive, including at Hat Trick Productions.
He first met Walliams when the comedian was 21, before working with him and Matt Lucas on Channel 4 satire Boyz Unlimited in 1999. Although the pair later lost touch, Osman said he had followed Walliams' career and felt uncomfortable reflecting on the television culture of the 1990s and 2000s.
"I think it's hard for any man who worked in television in the 1990s and the 2000s to not feel like they failed, to not feel blind, to not feel some sense of shame about what has happened," he said. He added: "It's not a sin of commission. It's a sin of omission and not understanding you need to create an environment in which everybody felt safe."
Osman described the recent revelations as a "reckoning and a wake-up call", adding that he hoped the industry would learn from its past. He said he was relieved to see people being held accountable, adding that he suspected further revelations involving men from the same generation could emerge.
