Richard Osman has spoken about working with David Walliams at the start of his career, and the feelings of guilt he has had after the comedian faced grooming allegations this week.
The former Britain's Got Talent judge, 55, was the focus of an investigation into accusations of grooming teenage girls as young as 15 and abusing his position of power and fame to pursue women. He has denied any wrongdoing.
First TV job with Walliams
Osman has now spoken about working with Walliams back when he was a 21-year-old newcomer to the TV industry and had yet to change his surname from Williams. The Thursday Murder Club author said his first TV job was with the disgraced comedian, when they worked on a pilot for a computer game show, adding that they subsequently fell out 'not for any exciting reasons' and did not work together again.
Speaking on The Rest is Entertainment podcast, he added: 'But I, of course, have followed his career and what he's done and seen where he's been in the heart of British TV.'
'I do 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.'
Call for safer TV environments
He went on to call for the need to create TV environments where 'everybody felt safe', but suggested it was not something that was at the forefront of minds when starting a career in the industry.
Osman continued: 'It's tough looking back and it's horrific. It's unremittingly grim. I'm delighted to still be around at a time when people are being found out and people are either going to prison in Russell Brand's case or at least being exposed in the case of Walliams.'
He then added that he suspected there 'will be more to come from that generation', although he did not suggest he had any insider information on further famous names that could face allegations of wrongdoing.
A reckoning and wake-up call
The former House of Games presenter labelled it 'a reckoning and a wake-up call,' also noting that the TV sector has improved in the last decade.
He concluded: 'There are a generation of TV men who I suspect would agree with me and I suspect would do anything they can to try and find a route through it.'
Osman and his co-host Marina Hyde then went on to praise the work of The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), which is an independent whistleblowing body which aims to improve standards of behaviour across the music, film, TV and theatre industries.
The bestselling author noted he has reported peers over the years for things like bullying, but admitted he has always been relatively senior, unlike certain runners who reportedly discussed Walliams's backstage behaviour in group chats, according to the Guardian and ITV's investigation.
