David Walliams and Simon Cowell were once one of Britain’s Got Talent’s biggest ratings draws, with the pair known for their faux flirting and jovial behaviour.

But despite having a once-playful friendship, it has now been revealed that Cowell distanced himself from Walliams four years ago, which sources said was after he feared that his fellow BGT star was ‘not a good person’.

This week, questions have been raised over Cowell and Walliams’ relationship, following claims that the comedian ‘abused his status’ on Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) and engaged in ‘inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities’ with ‘a large number’ of young women and girls.

Notoriously, Walliams left the show in 2022 after audio emerged of him making disparaging remarks about contestants off-camera, including calling one a ‘c***’ and describing another female as ‘like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don’t’.

Friends of the BGT creator claim he hasn’t spoken to Walliams since he left the show, stating: ‘Simon hasn’t had anything to do with David for a long time now, and he won’t ever again. He is pleased that David went from BGT and that it has now moved on without him.’

Their interactions on the show have since gone viral, with fans looking back at their communication with fresh eyes, and noting several eyebrow-raising exchanges. 

Now, the Daily Mail reveals the moments when Walliams ‘crossed the line’, while filming scenes with Cowell.  

Simon Cowell and David Walliams’ friendship has been called into question, following claims the comedian engaged in ‘inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities’ with young women

Cowell referred to his co-star Walliams as a ‘psychopathic child’ during a 2018 interview with the Daily Mail

Cowell called Walliams a ‘psychopathic child’

During a 2018 interview with the Daily Mail, Cowell referred to Walliams as a ‘psychopathic child’.

The interviewer asked: ‘What makes you come back series after series?’

Cowell replied: ‘The crazies. I like the crazy acts. 

‘Ah, you know what, this is a fun show to do when you’ve done something like X Factor, which is like doing a marathon; you come on a show like this, and it’s fun, great atmosphere. 

‘Something about it is special.’

‘And you’ve got your best mates there on the judging panel with you,’ the interviewer added before Cowell clarified: ‘They’re not my best mates. But I like them.’

The interviewer asked: ‘Has there been any tension so far?

Cowell replied: ‘David is my dealing with some psychopathic child. He is what he is. But that’s what makes it fun, I suppose.’

Walliams pulled his trousers down in Cowell’s face 

During an episode of BGT, Walliams decided to drop his trousers in front of Cowell

During an episode of BGT, Walliams decided to drop his trousers in front of Cowell.

It came after show host Stephen Mulhern reminded the group of the previous year’s auditions, when Walliams unexpectedly undid his trousers whilst the judges were dancing around.

Not one to shy away from the embarrassing moment, Walliams decided to recreate it, attempting to crawl seductively across the desk before repeating the move in front of Cowell’s face. 

As the audience squealed in horror at the scene, a morose Cowell sat back with his head in his hands as Alesha Dixon screamed: ‘David, no!’

Awkward affection 

Walliams kissed Cowell on multiple occasions as part of their long-running comedy ‘bromance’ on the show

Walliams kissed Cowell on multiple occasions as part of their long-running comedy ‘bromance’ on the show. 

During his tenure, he frequently made playful, over-the-top romantic advances toward Cowell on air and at awards ceremonies to make him squirm. 

One example is from 2018, when Cowell gave his Golden Buzzer to Jack and Tim Goodacre, a father-and-son singing and guitar duo from Norwich.

As the crowd celebrated, Walliams walked over to Cowell and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

Cowell said he was ‘very uncomfortable’ with Walliams

Cowell said he felt ‘very uncomfortable’ during an appearance on the Jonathan Ross Show with Walliams

Cowell and Walliams appeared on an episode of The Jonathan Ross Show in 2012 to talk all things BGT.

As they were welcomed to the set, Walliams sat extremely close to Cowell on the sofa. 

‘Move over,’ Cowell shouted while pointing.

Ross laughed: ‘It’s all right. How are you finding all of this?’

‘Very uncomfortable,’ Cowell replied before Walliams started to give him a shoulder massage. 

Cowell turned to him and said: ‘Why did I agree to do this with David. You’re married, no.’

Ross joked: ‘But if you were single, yes. Is that what you were saying?

‘No,’ Cowell snapped.

Ross replied: ‘You chose David, so you only have yourself to blame.’

Cowell agreed: ‘I know there are moments in my life which I regret, and this may be one of them.’

Walliams asked his wife if he could call her ‘Simon’ when they got into bed

Cowell was not impressed when Walliams joked that he asked his wife if he could call her ‘Simon’ in bed

During a 2012 BGT panel interview, Walliams joked that he asked his wife if he could call her ‘Simon’ in bed.

He said: ‘My wife is jealous because every time I come back from work, I go, “Guess what Simon did today?”

‘And she actually really doesn’t like it.’

Cowell asked: ‘Does she not?

Walliams replied: ‘No, and in our wedding photographs I’ve taken her head away and put yours. Then sometimes when we are going to bed at night I say, “Is it OK if I call you Simon?”

‘The first few times she didn’t mind, but then she’s wearing the mask… but yes.’

Turning to face Cowell, he said: ‘I’ll give you a massage or something. If you close your eyes, you don’t know who was giving you that, and you open your eyes, and it was me.’

‘Probably right to move on,’ the interviewer interrupted. 

Cowell said Walliams has a big ‘ego’

Cowell said that Walliams has a ‘big ego’ in a promotional video for BGT in 2015

In 2015, Cowell said in a promo video for the new BGT series launch that he was regretting letting Walliams become quite such a big star.

He said of his judging panel: ‘We get on really well – David can be a pain. I feel a little bit like Frankenstein and the monster.

‘He’s getting bigger and his ego’s getting bigger, and he is literally uncontrollable.’

Walliams ‘crossed the line’

In 2018, Cowell told Walliams that he ‘crossed the line’ after he implied the show’s creator has been intimate with Amanda Holden 

During a May 2018 broadcast of the live spin-off show BGT, Mulhern asked the judges to write answers on individual whiteboards to questions about Cowell.

Walliams repeatedly gave crude and cheeky answers throughout the segment. 

When asked what Cowell wanted to be as a little boy, Walliams wrote ‘a little girl,’ and when asked about his co-star’s best attribute, he wrote ‘his penis.’

Mulhern then asked who would act as Cowell’s deputy if he were ever absent.

Walliams then revealed his whiteboard, which read: ‘Amanda (because they did it)’ – jokingly implying that Cowell and Ms Holden had been intimate.

As reported by Metro, Cowell told Walliams: ‘You’ve actually crossed the line,’ called him a ‘smutty little man’, and told him to get out.