Footage has emerged of Jonathan Ross joking about 15-year-olds ‘going home with David Walliams‘ – as the former Little Britain star was unmasked as the celebrity who fought for a court order to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct.
Walliams, who stands accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and preying on multiple teenagers, was seen throwing his head back in laughter at the remark at the 2004 British Comedy Awards.
Mr Ross made the joke at the British Comedy Awards in 2004, when Little Britain – which Walliams created and starred in alongside Matt Lucas – was awarded Best TV Comedy.
‘The comedy awards is 15 years old – 15 years old!’ Mr Ross told the audience.
‘And like most 15-year-olds, it’s drunk, it’s unpredictable and it’s probably going home with David Walliams.’
In the clip, Walliams appears relaxed and seemingly enjoying himself, dressed in a black dinner jacket and bow tie. Mr Ross, responding through lawyers, said he did not write the joke himself but just delivered it.
Walliams, one of the world’s bestselling children’s authors, is accused of ‘abusing his status’ on Little Britain and Britain’s Got Talent and engaging in ‘inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities’ with ‘a large number’ of young women and girls.
Walliams denies any wrongdoing and told the High Court he would kill himself if his identity were revealed. It came 24 hours after his friend Russell Brand was jailed for 10-and-a-half years for rape.
This afternoon, Downing Street said allegations of sexual misconduct made by multiple women were ‘deeply troubling’ and the Government is ‘concerned’ about the use of injunctions. Labour has suspended him as a party member, it later emerged.
David Walliams, who was today unmasked as the celebrity who tried to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct, was filmed throwing his head back in laughter at the remark
Mr Ross made the joke at the British Comedy Awards in December 2004, when Little Britain, which Walliams created and starred in – was awarded Best TV Comedy
The moment Alex, then 15, met Walliams at a Little Britain fan event. Walliams was dressed as his character Lou
One accuser, named as Jade by ITV News and The Guardian, alleges she was sexually assaulted by Walliams when she was 15 after he contacted her online.
Jade claims they met in Soho before he drove her to his home in his Aston Martin. She alleges Walliams sexually assaulted her at Supernova Heights, the mansion once owned by Oasis star Noel Gallagher.
‘He asked me to come over and gave me a hug. That’s when he kissed me,’ Jade alleged of Walliams, who was 36 at the time.
‘He lifted my top up and sucked on my breast and then tried to put my hand down his trousers. That’s when I pulled away and said, ‘No’. He had an erection at the time,’ she said.
‘I wasn’t ready for sex. I didn’t want to do that, with him or with anyone. I didn’t want to be touched in that way at all. I mean, I was only 15. It’s a sexual assault. It’s grooming. It’s completely wrong in every way.’
She claimed she had already confided in him that she had previously been sexually abused by someone else as a child, to which he responded: ‘Sorry to hear that.’
Another woman, identified only as Alex, claims Walliams began contacting her when she was 15 and studying for her mock GCSEs after meeting her at a Little Britain fan event where he was dressed as his character Lou, wearing a frizzy wig and leather jacket.
The moment they met was captured on camera. They began a sexual relationship around two years later, when she was 17.
Asked how she feels about him now, she said: ‘I want to vomit. I hate him. My body reacts when I think about it. It’s like a trauma response. I think I was groomed. One hundred per cent.’
One whistleblower at his former publisher, HarperCollins, which made millions from his children’s books, claimed: ‘There was an agreement, if you went to his house you had to go in a pair. You couldn’t go by yourself.’
Former Britain’s Got Talent judge Walliams, 55, launched a High Court bid to prevent the media reporting the allegations, prompting fevered speculation online about his identity.
However, a judge dismissed his claim last week and Walliams did not lodge an appeal before Monday’s 4.30pm deadline. ITV News and The Guardian named him at midday on Tuesday.
The BBC is in the process of removing some programmes, including Little Britain, while it carries out a review of ‘all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms’, a spokesman has said. Walliams has also been dropped by his agents, ITG.
Walliams, pictured last month, is accused of abusing his status to target girls and young women. He denies the claims
Sarah, who was 18, was invited by Walliams to see Britain’s Got Talent filmed and posed with him and the other judges (pictured). There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by them. Sarah claims that a fortnight later Walliams tried to kiss her after getting her drunk on wine while he had water
Alex, then 15, kept notes including this excited handwritten account where she said: ‘David Walliams phoned me!!!’
Multiple women have accused Walliams of sexually inappropriate behaviour and grooming, including when they were teenagers.
Walliams has today vehemently denied abusing his position as a celebrity in relationships with women, but acknowledged that he had at times ‘behaved thoughtlessly’.
In a statement to ITV News and The Guardian, 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.
‘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 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.’
I’m Katie Hind, and when you hear my stories about Walliams, you’ll understand why I’m so relieved he’s been unmasked.
In 2015, Walliams befriended a young, star-struck fan. A year later, she received a disturbing letter from his celebrity legal firm. Its impact on her was clear from her trembling hands and haunted eyes. Now I can tell you her full, uncomfortable, story.
This denial was in a letter understood to have been sent several months ago by Walliams to journalists. He has not responded today.
It comes 11 months after publisher HarperCollins dropped millionaire Walliams following allegations that he had harassed female junior employees.
Jade alleged she was 15 when Walliams contacted her on MySpace in 2007, at the height of his Little Britain fame.
She said she commented on a photo of him and that he quickly sent her a private message.
‘You get this celebrity approaching you. That’s a whole different level of attention,’ she said.
‘Then you think, I must be a bit special, in a way.’
She claimed they met in Soho in August 2007.
‘I was very, very shy,’ Jade said.
‘I was quite quiet, so it was mostly him asking questions. We talked a bit about school, but it wasn’t long before he asked me if I’d ever had sex. I said I hadn’t. I didn’t like talking about that sort of thing.’
Jade alleged that Walliams then took her into an ‘alleyway’ as they said goodbye.
‘He sort of edged into the corner where we couldn’t be seen and that’s when he kissed me,’ she said.
‘His tongue was used. I don’t want to use the word aggressive, but he was quite… excited.’
She alleged that she later went to his home, where she was sexually assaulted.
‘I think I was still naive about what he wanted to happen. I didn’t think he would want sex, especially that quickly,’ she said.
Another woman, named by the news organisations as Alex, alleged she was having sex with Walliams by the time she was 17.
It was Alex who met him at a Little Britain event.
She said he offered to help with work and read her scripts. He sent him two photos of herself.
‘Those pictures are really lovely by the way,’ one email from him reportedly read.
‘Will you send me some more? You are gorgeous,’ he allegedly told her.
ITV says that on another email she said she planned to have a bath.
‘You in the bath is a nice thought,’ he replied.
‘Hmm… you in the bath with me is a nicer thought… hehe,’ she responded.
Walliams wrote back: ‘I’d like that. Call me.’
‘At first I just sent photos of my face, and then it was photos of my underwear,’ Alex claimed.
‘He would put a lot of pressure on me and was telling me how to pose, and then actually be naked.
‘I remember quite clearly one of the times he wanted a photo of me… of my bum and my back… I would be on the bed turning around and my back arched… I started off in my underwear and then he heavily suggested that I remove it.’
‘I felt that he was asking for more than I felt comfortable with,’ she added.
‘I hadn’t done that before and I really could feel the imbalance at that point already.’
She claims they later met at his home in Belsize Park, London. She was 17, he was 34, and they had sex.
‘I remember him coming at me and kissing me. It was a really pushy kiss. I remember he just shoved his tongue in my mouth. I just hadn’t ever experienced anything like that before… then, I kind of followed his lead, really. We went on his bed and we had sex.
‘I remember he didn’t use a condom. I remember clocking it and thinking that’s not good but I was too young… I really don’t think I would have had the ability to get the words out at that point to say ‘don’t do that’.
‘It just felt very pushy and very for him. I felt like a prostitute, essentially. I was there for that reason and then I was out.’
She says they had sex three times.
‘I never said no, but I felt unable to say anything or have any control in that situation once I was with him,’ she said.
Alex claimed Walliams would later ‘beg’ her for sex and she began refusing, including once in his car.
‘We met when I was 15,’ she said.
‘He was a figure of authority to me and someone that I looked to for guidance and help. And he used that power and abused that power the minute he felt he just about could – and that it was just about safe to.
‘Ok, it’s legal to have sex when you’re 17, 18, 16 even. But the context of who you’re having sex with – if that person is double your age, if that person has promised you things and is in a much bigger position of power than you both in age, in work, in finance, in stature, in size… I really don’t think that’s okay.’
Walliams told publications he believed she was 18 at the time they had sex. He told ITV he is ‘mortified to learn’ that their ‘brief, consensual relationship has caused her sadness.’
Two photos that Alex claims she sent to Walliams before they met and had sex
She says Walliams set her notes wishing her luck in her exams
They had email contact for some time before they met. Walliams asked her age
Alex kept a Little Britain Live guest pass
She also had the tickets
One former junior employee at BGT, named as Mark, said he walked into Walliams’ dressing room and found two ‘very young’ people in the room while the TV judge was only wearing a towel.
At the end of the series Mark received £300 from Walliams with a signed card. Mark claimed a senior member of the production staff called it ‘hush money’.
Walliams denies he was ‘buying’ Mark’s silence and there was nothing that needed ‘covering up’.
The star says he tipped staff every year and the amount he gave Mark was no higher than normal. He describes the employee’s comments as a ‘smear’.
Model Lilly Creightmore said she was 18 when Walliams contacted her. He had seen on the TV show, Model Behaviour, when she was 16.
He said he admired her.
She claims he got her address via a production company.
Walliams sent her a card, which she kept. There is also a photo of her with Walliams at a bash attended by various A-listers.
He wrote: ‘When I saw you at the Little Britain recording, I was enraptured. Then when I saw you in Agent Provocateur, I so wanted to speak to you, but amongst all the frilly knickers I couldn’t find the words. I’d love to take you out sometime. I know we’ve never spoken but you seem lovely. David Walliams.’
At one point she ended up between homes – and claimed Walliams offered her a room.
When she arrived she claims that Walliams told her that she would share a bed with him.
‘He definitely crossed the line physically in moments, when I was young, trying to coerce me into sleeping with him,’ Lilly said.
‘He would plead with me to share a bed with him and paw at me, trying to make me feel sorry for him.’
She claims he became angry when she refused to have sex.
‘When I was staying with him those first few days, it became apparent that I didn’t feel safe there,’ she told ITV.
A student named Ella claimed that he tried to woo her with gifts and flowers when she was 19.
He invited her to a party at Supernova Heights.
She said: ‘I remember walking into his bedroom with him and feeling him come up really close behind me, and the hairs going up from the back of my neck,’ she said. ‘I turned around and he’d placed his hands either side of the window. And he’s a big man. It’s quite intimidating.
‘He lent in for a kiss and I just remember going ‘eurgh’ and ducking underneath his arm and running away.’
Walliams said he made a ‘clumsy pass’ at Ella but made no further approaches. He , denied putting his head in her lap and said he had no intention of making her feel uncomfortable or intimidated.
A card Lilly Creightmore kept from Walliams
Lilly and Walliams at a celebrity bash with Jonathan Ross, Ricky Gervais and others. There is no suggestion any of them were aware of any alleged wrongdoing
Lilly Creightmore claims Walliams became angry when she refused to have sex
A student named Ella claimed that he tried to woo her with gifts and flowers when she was 19. She kept the card written on his own gold, embossed, headed paper
In 2012, Walliams was a household name and joined Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) as a judge.
A fan named Sarah began chatting to Walliams on social media at the age of 18.
She was invited by him to see the show and sat behind the judges: Walliams, Aleesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell.
A fortnight later he invited her to stay over at his house, inviting her and a friend, who was 18.
He allegedly poured them wine but drank water himself. She became tipsy.
‘He kind of put his arms around the back of my waist, pulled me in towards him and tried to kiss me,’ she claimed.
‘I was like, ‘I’ve got a boyfriend, you can’t do that’.’
‘I was just like no thank you, absolutely not, also, you’re the same age as my mum. I was like, okay, this is where I need to get my wits about me now, and I need to be careful.’
The girls decided to go to bed but she claims he tried to take her to another floor. Her friend intervened and grabbed her hand, she claims.
‘I could have run out the door, and I wouldn’t have known where I was. I wouldn’t have known who to call. I wouldn’t have known what to do,’ she said.
She claims to have messages where Walliams asked her friend if she ‘liked’ him.
Another BGT fan, Abby Tomlinson, said she was invited by Walliams via Twitter when she was 17. She went with a friend who was 13.
She said they were sent to his dressing room and two other teenagers were there.
When put to his lawyers, they said his ‘door remained open at all times’.
She told ITV: ‘That’s not what happened at all… The door was shut and we were alone with him.
‘I know now it’s part of the pattern of inviting young girls and young women to his dressing room.
‘It wasn’t just like a one-off thing and I think that is a really concerning way for someone to act when they have this access.
‘It’s an open secret in the industry. Everyone knows that it’s happening. I just think it’s kind of disgraceful that he’s still on TV.’
A woman named only as Amy who worked on the show claimed that Walliams referred to her as ‘the one with the arse’, and stared at her chest, which Walliams denies.
Sarah claims Walliams used his BGT fame to groom her when she was a teen and made a pass at her
Abby Tomlinson, said she was invited by Walliams via Twitter when she was 17. She went with a friend who was 13. They were taken to his dressing room
Abby then tweeted this is 2020
Fremantle UK, who produce BGT, said: ‘David Walliams left Britain’s Got Talent four years ago. During his time on the show, and in the four years since, no complaint has ever been made – either to Fremantle UK, the broadcaster or regulator, and we are not aware of any complaints having been made to any other external authority – regarding his behaviour.
‘Nevertheless, if anyone feels they have been the subject of any impropriety or wrongdoing by anyone, we encourage them to come forward. We will treat any complaints seriously and investigate thoroughly and to the best of our ability. This has long been our policy in terms of protecting employees, freelancers, contributors and fans and absolutely remains paramount in our thinking and actions as a responsible television production company.’
Syco Entertainment said: ‘Syco Entertainment had no knowledge of the allegations described and was not made aware of them at the time.’
ITV said in a statement: ‘We are very sorry to hear about the concerns that have been raised. BGT is produced for ITV by Fremantle, an independent production company.
‘Although ITV is the broadcaster of the programme, the producer has day to day responsibility for the running of the production, including all aspects of duty of care, and for ensuring compliance with all legal and regulatory obligations as well as ITV’s production and compliance guidelines.’
There are also claims about his years working with publisher Harper Collins.
A woman, referred to as Katie, claimed that a young woman showed her a series of ‘gross’ emails from Walliams, while she and another worker called Helen allege managers avoided sending young female staff on their own to his flat.
The publisher said: ‘HarperCollins UK has decided not to publish any new titles by David Walliams. The author is aware of this decision. HarperCollins takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns. To respect the privacy of individuals we do not comment on internal matters.’
Downing Street said the allegations against David Walliams were ‘deeply troubling.’
Asked about the investigation by Independent Television News and Guardian News and Media, publisher of The Guardian, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘I don’t think we’ve seen the full extent of the reporting.
‘They’re clearly deeply troubling allegations, and the Government will doubtless respond to them during the course of the day, I’m sure.’
Walliams’s lawyers say the suggestion he groomed Alex is false and has caused him significant distress.
The High Court heard that news network ITN and the Guardian newspaper had interviewed more than 100 people, including 30 with ‘first-hand accounts’, as part of a joint investigation into Walliams.
Rather than claiming the stories would be a breach of his right to privacy, as celebrities have done previously, Walliams claimed they would breach his right to life as they would cause him to kill himself.
However, Mr Justice Nicklin ruled that the court had no responsibility to protect his life, and that gagging the news outlets would be a serious threat to free speech.
Walliams, who rose to fame on comedy series Little Britain before becoming one of the most prolific faces on British television, has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
His past romantic connections have included Patsy Kensit, Geri Halliwell, Lisa Snowdon, Ashley James, model Lauren Budd and Miss Norway contender Sylvia Flote.
Most prominent among his past lovers is his ex-wife, the Dutch supermodel Lara Stone, to whom he was married for five years.
Despite enjoying extraordinary success as a comedian and children’s author, selling more than 60 million books worldwide and amassing a £20 million fortune, Walliams has faced a series of controversies over the years.
They have included allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards colleagues, offensive remarks about talent show contestants and bizarre comedy routes branded ‘creepy’ and ‘sick’.
Last week, Sara Mansoori KC told the High Court that Walliams had already tried to kill himself twice since learning of the allegations, including while absconding from a secure hospital in July.
‘The [media outlets] wish to publish allegations of wrongdoing which he denies and which the evidence is clear will highly likely lead to his death or psychological injury,’ she said.
‘The only way [publication] wouldn’t be fatal is if [Walliams] is locked up and prevented from taking his own life.’
Walliams, pictured last month, lost his bid to block the media from publishing sex abuse claims against him and did not appeal the decision
Walliams was previously married to Dutch model Lara Stone, pictured in 2014
His other ex-girlfriends have included model Lauren Budd, pictured at the height of his fame in 2009
The court heard that when Walliams was told about the allegations in May, his ‘body language completely changed’ and he went into a state of ‘extreme panic’.
‘He started saying that he wanted to kill himself and would seek to do so,’ said Ms Mansoori. ‘Publication of these allegations would lead to a very substantial increase in suicidal ideation and suicidal acts.’
Gavin Millar KC, for the media outlets, described Walliams’s argument as ‘unprecedented’ and risked dragging the courts into ‘assessing the causes of suicidal ideation, which are for professionals and not for a judge’.
A psychiatrist who assessed Walliams said his mood disorder was treatable and it would be ‘significantly safer’ for him to remain in a secure hospital if the allegations were published.
It is not the first time that Walliams’s behaviour has faced public scrutiny.
In a sketch called ‘Hide the Sausage’ that formed part of a 2006 Little Britain stage show, the comedian played a fictional children’s entertainer and would invite young male volunteers on stage.
Footage that recently resurfaced online showed Walliams humiliating a 16-year-old boy by pulling his trousers and pants down in front of the audience, saying: ‘Bingo – you’re a big boy for 16, aren’t you? That’s what I’ll tell the judge.’
The boy could be seen struggling to keep his genitals covered as Walliams wrestled to kiss his buttocks.
Walliams later defended the sketch, saying: ‘To me, there are no subjects you can’t make fun of, because if you make that line then you have to get rid of all comedy.’
In January 2018, Walliams was forced to apologise after hosting the annual all-male Presidents Club charity dinner at London’s Dorchester Hotel.
An undercover investigation revealed that women serving drinks had been instructed to wear revealing black outfits with matching underwear and high heels, and were subjected to sexually inappropriate behaviour by guests.
Walliams was not accused of harassment himself but later said he was ‘absolutely appalled’ by the behaviour.
In November 2022, Walliams’s decade-long stint as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent came to an end after a leaked transcript revealed him making crude and sexually explicit remarks about contestants.
The comments had been recorded during auditions at the London Palladium, when microphones picked up conversations between the judges during filming breaks.
According to the transcript, Walliams referred to an older male contestant as a ‘c***’ three times after he left the stage, and said about one female contestant: ‘She thinks you want to f*** her but you don’t.’
Walliams apologised for the remarks but later sued BGT producers Fremantle, saying they misused private information and claiming the leak had caused him psychiatric harm and financial losses. The company settled out of court.
In June 2025, Walliams was reprimanded by the BBC after performing Nazi salutes during a recording of the Christmas special of panel show Would I Lie To You?
The incident took place during a segment involving actress Helen George, who was discussing an injury she had sustained while waving during the Strictly Come Dancing tour.
The BBC described the gesture as ‘completely unacceptable’ and production company Zeppotron said any attempt at humour involving the gesture was ‘unacceptable in any context’.
Later that year, publisher HarperCollins said it would no longer publish any new books by Walliams after reports of inappropriate behaviour towards junior female employees.
One former employee was reportedly given a five-figure payoff by the publisher after raising concerns, while others said they had been advised to work in pairs when meeting Walliams and not to visit his home.
In September this year, HarperCollins announced it would stop publishing Walliams’s entire back catalogue of books, ending an almost 20-year relationship between the author and publisher.
His books, including Gangsta Granny, Mr Stink and Ratburger, have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide.
Walliams has strongly denied any wrongdoing from the outset.
