The moment David Walliams' career started to unravel: Shamed comic was caught making sexually explicit remarks about BGT contestants on mic before stepping down as judge

David Walliams' career came to a crashing end this week but the shamed comic's unravelling began in 2022 with a Britain's Got Talent scandal.The 55-year-old was this week unmasked as the celebrity who fought for a court order to suppress allegations that he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl and preyed on multiple teenage girls while 'abusing his status' to exploit teens. He has denied any criminal wrongdoing and says he is 'not a sexual predator'The fallout from the allegations was immediate: literary agency Independent Talent immediately dropped the author from its roster; BBC iPlayer is pulling all Walliams content and Sky have cut off all their collaborations with the star, confirming it will not distribute the film adaptation of his 2019 novel Fing!. Four years ago Walliams was a decade into his role on ITV's prime time family show Britain's Got Talent, which saw him voted best TV judge at the National TV Awards four times, whilst sales of his books had reached 40million worldwide.In November 2022 though he stepped down from the high-profile role after recordings of derogatory and sexually explicit comments he made about contestants were obtained and published by The Guardian. Walliams made the comments during filming breaks in 2020 at the London Palladium auditions. The recordings saw the star call one elderly contestant a 'c***' three times when they left the stage. David Walliams' career came to a crashing end this week but the shamed comic's unravelling began in 2022 with a Britain's Got Talent scandalHe also described another woman as 'like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don't'.Walliams apologised, explaining: 'These were private conversations and – like most conversations with friends – were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry.'He then sued the show's producers Fremantle for misuse of his private information and breaching data protection laws. The former Little Britain star is said to have claimed in court documents that producers 'recorded, transcribed and retained' all his conversations during his decade-long stint and that he had no idea his microphone was 'kept on and recording' throughout the entire day of filming.Walliams alleged 1,700 hours of audio recordings were collected, and said he had battled severe depression since the sacking and had experienced 'active suicidal thoughts'.An 'amicable resolution' was reached, with the production company apologising for the recording being made public.The scandal was the beginning of the end for Walliams.Broadcaster Piers Morgan, who was a judge on BGT between 2007 and 2010 and had a well-documented grudge against Walliams, branded the comic 'one of the nastiest frauds in TV' in a tweet responding to the story. Walliams with his Britain's Got Talent co-stars, from left, Ant McPartlin, Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Declan DonnellyHe also claimed, without showing any evidence, that it constituted the 'tip of the iceberg' of Walliams' alleged bad behaviour.BGT head judge and creator Simon Cowell also distanced himself from Walliams, with sources saying he feared that his co-star was 'not a good person'.It has now been revealed that around the same time Walliams left BGT in November 2022, The Guardian made its first approach to the star about allegations of inappropriate conduct. The allegations were denied and a story was not published.In May 2023 The Guardian and ITV News agreed to collaborate on an investigation into Walliams.Also in 2023, Cally Poplak, HarperCollins' recently appointed new head of children's books, launched an investigation into his conduct after allegations were raised by staff.At least five female employees are said to have given evidence during the investigation, but it ended in 2024 with no consequences for Walliams. However, one employee who spoke to the internal inquiry was reportedly given a five-figure payout and left the firm.It took until December 2025 for HarperCollins to drop the author, announcing that following a change of CEO, the company would no longer look after new releases by Walliams. In November 2022 Walliams stepped down from his role on BGT after recordings of derogatory and sexually explicit comments he made about contestants were leakedThe Daily Telegraph reported that an internal investigation had been opened the previous year after a complaint was made by a junior member of staff about his behaviour. This reportedly found that staff had been told to only meet Walliams in pairs and advised against going to his house.Walliams' spokesman responded by saying he 'strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately' and that he had 'never been informed of any allegations raised against him' by the publisher.In September 2026, HarperCollins doubled down by announcing that would no longer represent his back catalogue, meaning that when his books sold out in shops, they would not be replaced.On Tuesday, the three-year joint investigation by ITV News and The Guardian revealed a series of allegations dating back to 2003, with some accusers being as young as 15. David denies all the allegations. A High Court judge previously dismissed Walliams' bid to prevent the publication of the allegations made against him but granted him permission to appeal and temporarily kept his identity secret.However, the comedian and writer missed a 4.30pm deadline on Monday to take the case to the Court of Appeal, meaning he could then be named.The allegations were subsequently published by ITV News and The Guardian the day after the deadline.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.'