David Walliams now faces allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power against a string of women — including teenage girls who were his fans.
He strongly denies the claims. All of the women who made allegations spoke to the Guardian and ITN. Some names have been changed
‘ALEX’
Alex was just 15 and studying for her GCSEs at school in January 2004 when she said she received a phone call while watching an episode of The Simpsons.
“Hi, it’s David Walliams. You know, off the telly!”
Walliams was 32 and a star of BBC’s Little Britain.
Just days earlier, Alex had been to a fan event where Walliams had signed autographs as his character, Lou.
Alex claims the comedian immediately told her: “You’re a very attractive lady.”
She gave him her phone number after telling him she wanted to be a comedy writer.
The pair allegedly spoke for two years before, aged 17, he asked her for sexual photos before they first had sex.
“I never said no,” she said. “But I felt unable to say anything or have any control in that situation once I was with him.”
Lawyers acting for Walliams said he understood her to be 18 when she got back in touch.
He also does not recall and does not believe he asked Alex to send him sexual pictures of herself.
They said any suggestion he groomed Alex is false and has caused him significant distress.
LILY CREIGHTMORE
Lilly Creightmore was a teenage star of Channel 4 reality television show Model Behaviour.
She said she met Walliams in July 2003 and she went with her mum to a filming of Little Britain.
Days later she claims she received a card from Walliams, which she said: “When I saw you in Agent Provocateur I so wanted to speak to you but amongst all those frilly knickers I couldn’t find the words.”
She had no idea how Walliams had found her name or address.
She was 18. Walliams was 32.
She agreed to meet him for dinner and he took her to celebrity parties while offering to help her with a career as a photographer.
Lilly claims she explicitly told Walliams she was interested only in friendship, but that over the years he would constantly pester her for sex.
Lawyers for Walliams said he denies grooming Creightmore or behaving inappropriately.
They added he did not target her because she was vulnerable or young, nor did he manipulate or coerce her into sleeping with him.
They said the gifts and offers to help her came with no expectations.
Walliams, they said, has a passion for photography and he wanted to help her with this career.
‘JADE’
Jade claims she was just 15 when Walliams allegedly contacted her on MySpace in 2007.
After commenting on a thread below a story about Walliams, the star sent her a private message.
She said she ignored the first one, but a second came through ten minutes later.
She replied and said Walliams asked for her phone number.
Jade told The Guardian: “You get this celebrity approaching you – that’s a whole different level of attention.
“Then you think, ‘Oh, I must be a bit special in a way.””
Jade said the pair met up and took a trip in the star’s car.
She claims he also took her to Supernova Heights, the London mansion he bought from Noel Gallagher.
Jade alleges they they then kissed and he sexually touched her before she asked him to stop.
Jade said he agreed to “wait until she was 16”.
Lawyers for Walliams said he never engaged in grooming young women and he denies he had any sexual contact with Jade.
They said the allegations of serious criminal conduct are false.
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‘ELLA’
Ella was 20 and a student and part-time model when she said she suddenly received a voicemail from Walliams.
Walliams had contacted her modelling agent and asked for her number.
Lawyers said Walliams understood it had been provided with her knowledge and permission.
She claims they went for dinner and he later invited her to a party.
Later, Walliams, she said, put his head in her lap and begged her to stay the night with him.
She says she felt vulnerable in the house and calls his behaviour an abuse of power.
Ella said: “I felt vulnerable and I felt intimidated.
“My overwhelming emotion is relief. I feel really lucky. I felt like I dodged a bullet and I think it could have been a very different story.”
Walliams’ lawyers said he was hoping Ella might want to have a serious relationship with him.
They said as far as he can recall, he had invited her and her friend spontaneously to attend the gathering at his house and they were the only women present.
They also told the Guardian that Walliams made what was intended to be a comically clumsy pass at her in the style of Mr Bean, and that he denies putting his head in her lap. They say he had no intention of intimidating her or making her feel uncomfortable.
BGT
Britain’s Got Talent production staff on the show – where Walliams was a judge – shared stories on a WhatsApp group about how the star was messaging young female runners.
It is claimed one 19-year-old showed her colleagues the messages she was receiving from Walliams.
“You always put a smile on my face x,” Walliams wrote.
He allegedly referred to the runner as “gorgeous” and at one point wrote “Hot” under a photo posted on Instagram of her in a group of three other women and one man.
Concerns about this alleged behaviour pinged around a group WhatsApp chat for young staff at BGT.
“He’s weird af (as f***),” one person is said to have texted. “250% would not be like this if the judge runner was a guy.”
A second person wrote: “He actually got in trouble a few years ago for messaging a runner. So be careful.”
A male former BGT staff member claims a 21-year-old female runner showed him messages in which Walliams was asking her out.
“She came up to me and said, ‘What shall I do? He’s David Walliams.’”
Lawyers for Walliams say viewed in context, the Instagram comment was clearly meant as a joke and the term “gorgeous” was commonly used in the entertainment industry.
They said Walliams has never been warned or “got into trouble” for messaging runners and deny he behaved inappropriately and harassed young women in the workplace.
ABBY TOMLINSON
Abby Tomlinson, who is now an aide to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, was 17 and a fan of BGT when she said she received a message out of the blue on her Twitter account in 2015.
He invited her to watch the show being filmed.
When Abby, who previously founded the “Milifandom” movement in support of then-Labour leader Ed Miliband during the 2015 election campaign, and a 13-year-old friend arrived, she claims two other girls aged 16 and 17 were waiting.
She said they were left alone with Walliams without another adult present, a claim his lawyers claim is misleading.
Abby saidL “It was absolutely the case, the door was shut and we were alone with him.
“He’s the sort of person who had obviously a lot of access to young women, teenage girls.”
Representatives for the production companies Fremantle and Syco, which produce BGT, each said neither company had any knowledge of any of the allegations levelled at Walliams and they had never received any complaints about him.
In a statement, ITV, which broadcasts the show, said it was sorry to hear of the allegations but Fremantle confirmed “no complaint has ever been made to them about David Walliams’ behaviour”.
‘SARAH’
Sarah was 18 when she posed next to the BGT judges for a photo in 2016.
She said he later contacted her on Instagram and booked her and an 18-year-old friend a spa day at the Bulgari hotel in Knightsbridge, London, and invited them to his house, Supernova Heights.
Sarah claims both women became drunk, but Sarah said when she got up to go to the bathroom, Walliams followed her.
She said he then put his hands around her waist and moved in to kiss her.
“I had a boyfriend at the time, so I was just like, ‘Absolutely not.’” When she looked at him, she said she remembers thinking: “You’re the same age as my mum.”
Walliams’ lawyers said he “refutes the suggestion he got (Sarah) drunk to take advantage of her”.
Although he recalls they drank wine together, they said, he does not recall anyone being drunk.
They added Walliams did not force himself on Sarah and there was no sexual contact with her.
Both women were friendly the next day and did not raise any issue with Walliams, they said.
The lawyers denied he targeted the teenage women and used his celebrity status to manipulate them to have sex with him.
Sarah later received a “threatening” letter from Jenny Afia from the law firm Schillings.
Afia is best known now for representing the Duchess of Sussex.
It warned her she would be committing a “civil offence” if she disclosed any “private information” concerning Walliams.
A spokesman for Schillings said they had been instructed to write the letter, as they had understood the woman was going to “sell her story”, which Walliams believed was “an untruthful account”.
HARPER COLLINS
Walliams became a multi-millionaire and Britain’s best-selling children’s author with his books published by Harper Collins.
But he was dropped by the publisher after allegations of wrongdoing.
The Guardian says in 2017, Walliams was introduced to an intern in her mid-20s. Walliams was 45.
The young woman claims she was later sent to his house alone and they began what Walliams’ lawyers describe as a “consensual sexual” relationship.
At one point, Walliams sent her flowers to the office.
The young woman later said although consensual, looking back she felt the relationship was an “abuse of power”, according to multiple sources.
Around the office, it is claimed women started to warn each other not to go to Walliams’ house alone.
Lawyers for Walliams said he denies the allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour in the workplace.
At the time, a HarperCollins spokesman said the company had decided not to publish any new titles by Walliams and they took “employee wellbeing extremely seriously”.
In response to the allegations, David Walliams denied wrongdoing and told the Guardian: “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.”
He added: “I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
Walliams’ representatives have been contacted for comment.
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