Fremantle settles with ‘Got Talent’ host David Walliams following off-camera comments

Britain’s Got Talent (David Walliams is pictured far left)

Fremantle has reached an “amicable resolution” with David Walliams, the former host of ITV’s competition show Britain’s Got Talent, who was suing the production group after his off-camera comments about contestants were leaked in the press.

The settlement was struck two months after it emerged that Walliams was taking legal action against Fremantle-owned Thames, suing for misuse of private information and a breach of data protection laws.

Walliams had been a host on the show for a decade but left last year after apologising for making “disrespectful comments” during breaks in filming the programme in 2020.

High Court documents revealed that Walliams was accusing Fremantle of causing him financial loss and psychiatric harm by leaking the recordings. It added that other private conversations could have been recorded, including of him talking about his father’s death and food addictions.

A Fremantle spokesperson told TBI: “We are pleased that we have achieved an amicable resolution of this dispute with David.

“We are sincerely sorry that his private conversations when a judge on Britain’s Got Talent were published and the great distress this caused David. We have reviewed our production practices on the show to ensure they fully respect the expectations of our talent whilst satisfying the requirements of the show.

“We have enjoyed a great relationship with David over many years. We thank David for being an important part of the Britain’s Got Talent family and the enduring success of the show and hope to have opportunities to work with him in the future.”

Walliams served as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent for a decade, from 2012 to 2022, but did not return for the latest season.

When the revealtions first broke, a spokesperson for Thames said that Walliams’ comments were “inappropriate” and he released a statement in which he apologised for the remarks.

“These were private conversations and – like most conversations with friends – were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry,” he wrote.

Walliams, the co-creator of BBC comedy Little Britain, nevertheless exited the show and was replaced by Bruno Tonioli on the judging panel for the most recent season of Britain’s Got Talent.