David Walliams was offered a new contract on Britain’s Got Talent despite the show’s production company being aware of derogatory and sexually explicit remarks he made about two contestants, according to court documents.
In high court documents, Walliams’s lawyers state that Fremantle was “fully aware of the allegations made by the Guardian” when it offered Walliams a £1m contract to appear in the 2023 season of the show, and that it only withdrew the offer after the Guardian published a story about the comments. The letter was the first time Walliams realised Fremantle was “collecting and retaining vastly more of his personal data than he had been given to understand” and than was necessary to make the show, state the papers.
The documents state that Walliams was unaware that “his microphone was kept on and recording throughout the whole filming day, including breaks” and had recorded sensitive and personal discussions. These include conversations with his fellow judge Alesha Dixon about the breakdown of his marriage, his opinions about other celebrities and his mental health.