David Walliams has claimed that ‘not a single person’ ever complained about a humiliating on-stage game in which he would pull young men’s trousers down – despite being caught reading a letter from a sex abuse victim on camera.
The skit, performed as part of a Little Britain stage show in the 2000s, saw Walliams, 54, play the role of a predatory children’s entertainer named Des Kaye and target young men in front of packed audiences.
The footage, previously aired as part of a BBC documentary, showed how Walliams would pull the men’s trousers and underwear down in a game of ‘hide the sausage’, appear to grope them and kiss their buttocks, and simulate sex with them.
It was revealed this week that when challenged by an Australian journalist over the sketch, Walliams fiercely defended the routine and claimed ‘not a single person complained’ about it.
But the comedian and author, who was last month dropped by his publisher HarperCollins over allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour, was filmed by the BBC reading just such a complaint letter from a victim of sexual abuse.
Speaking during an interview last February, Walliams claimed: ‘We did that sketch at 250 shows on a tour of the UK and Australia and it always brought the house down.
‘And not a single person ever complained.
‘But you see it in a clip, on X, with no context, no set-up, nothing, you might have a different view of it. If you were there in the audience at that time you would have been laughing.
‘It was a different time. It’s about context. If you’re the sort of person who wants to get annoyed about something 20 years ago…’
However, this is at odds with footage from a BBC documentary featuring Walliams and his Little Britain partner Matt Lucas, which showed the author reading aloud a letter from an individual hitting out at the sketch.
‘I was shocked, dismayed and disappointed by the character Des Kaye,’ read Walliams.
The author went on to say the skit presented ‘molestation of the boy’ as ‘a great joke,’ and said: ‘For me this was not a joke, for me this went too far. I was molested when I was very young.’
They added: ‘One can rationalise this as alright to expose the truth, however, it can have a down side as people laugh, think it’s funny, it may give further licence to those perpetrators to think that molestation of boys, girls or adults is alright.’
In the footage, Walliams says: ‘To me there are no subjects you can’t make jokes out of because if you make that line you have to get rid of all comedy.’
The clip was filmed as part of a BBC documentary narrated by comic Rob Brydon, called Little Britain Down Under, which followed the show’s tour of Australia in 2007.
Walliams’ co-star also appeared to refute his claims that the on-stage humiliation was only ever well received.
Lucas wrote about the controversial sketch in his 2017 autobiography and revealed that some audience members brought on stage reacted violently.
He said: ‘David did his audience participation bit in the first half, as children’s entertainer Des Kaye – Wicky Woo!
‘During a game of “Hide the Sausage”, he would almost always wrestle the trousers off some poor lad.
‘You could never get away with that today. In fact he didn’t always get away with it then. Sometimes David would get a clout for his troubles and I’d see him in the wings afterwards, nursing a sore ear.’
It comes after Walliams was dropped by publisher HarperCollins last month over allegations he had harassed junior female members of staff.
Former employees said they were advised to work in pairs when working with the UK’s most successful children’s book author, and advised not to go to his home as a result of his behaviour.
A spokesman for Walliams has denied any wrongdoing. They said: ‘David has never been informed of any allegations raised against him by HarperCollins.
‘He was not party to any investigation or given any opportunity to answer questions. David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice.’
It was just the latest scandal to hit the former Britain’s Got Talent judge, who left that show after a leaked recording from filming showed he had made vile sexual comments about female contestants.
In 2022, a leaked transcript revealed that he called one auditioning contestant a ‘c**’ and said of another: ‘she thinks you want to f*** her, but you don’t.’
The comments, made in January 2020 during auditions at the London Palladium, were picked up on the programme’s microphones.
Walliams apologised at the time the comments became public and acknowledged they were ‘disrespectful’, adding they were part of a private conversation that was ‘never intended to be shared’.
Last year, Walliams was also dropped as an ambassador from charity The Children’s Trust.
