Would I Lie to You viewers question David Walliams’ appearance on Christmas special

Would I Lie to You? viewers questioned the BBC‘s decision to pull the Christmas special from the schedules following allegations of inappropriate behaviour against guest panellist David Walliams.

The episode with Walliams aired on Boxing Day (26 December), just week after the comedian and children’s author, 54, was dropped by publisher HarperCollins after being accused of behaving inappropriately towards young women.

A junior colleague is said to have complained about his conduct, leading to other staff members being interviewed. Former employees alleged to The Telegraph that they were advised to work in pairs when meeting with him and not to visit his home.

Walliams’s spokesperson said he “strongly denies” any claims and was not informed about or party to an investigation by HarperCollins.

After the episode aired, viewers commented on Walliams’ appearance on the panel in the immediate aftermath of the allegations against him.

“David Walliams on Would I Lie to You shows the dangers of filming your Christmas special in June,” one person wrote, with another stating his presence “ruined” the episode.

Others wondered why the BBC didn’t err on the side of caution, with one writing on X/Twitter: “Honestly, the BBC do themselves no favours. It's a long list and tonight it's them having a Would I Lie to You Christmas special with Walliams on.”

An additional post stated: “Thought the continuity announcer would mention that it was filmed before his recent allegations, but nope.”

A BBC spokesperson told The Independent: “While we’re not making any changes to the festive schedules, we have no future projects directly involving David Walliams.”

His appearance on the special episode also made headlines earlier this year after it emerged that he had given two Nazi salutes during the recording. At the time, the BBC apologised over the incident and the scene was deleted from the episode.

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Walliams rose to fame more than 20 years ago through the comedy series Little Britain, alongside Matt Lucas. The show was hugely popular at the time but has come under fire in recent years over use of blackface in the series and claims it was sexist, classist and homophobic.

Following his TV career, Walliams has become one of the UK’s most established and successful award-winning children’s authors, selling an estimated 60 million copies worldwide. His books are widely used in schools.

In 2022, Walliams faced criticism after he was caught making obscene comments about contestants on Britain’s Got Talent.

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.”

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Walliams subsequently left his role on the show, and apologised for the “disrespectful comments”, saying they were part of a private conversation that was “never intended to be shared”.

He sued FremantleMedia, the production company that makes BGT, for the leaking of his private remarks. The matter was settled in November 2023.