Odd behaviour backstage. Strange encounters with fans. As DAVID WALLIAMS reveals he's spending Christmas without his son three years after his BGT downfall, insiders tell KATIE HIND why some TV bosses don't want to work with him
Could anything better illustrate how the fortunes of comedian David Walliams and his Dutch model ex-wife Lara Stone have diverged in the ten years since their divorce?
While Lara has moved on and found lasting happiness again, David has been single since they split.
She is now enjoying a comfortable life in Hampstead with her property developer husband of four years David Grievson.
Their home is just a stone's throw from the mansion she used to share with Walliams, which was nicknamed 'Supernova Towers' by previous owner Noel Gallagher.
Walliams, meanwhile, regularly retreats to his beachside villa in Brighton where he is said to spend much time 'licking his wounds'.
But surely the bitterest blow for him must be the bond their 12-year-old son Alf has forged with Lara's new husband.
In a recent interview with a luxury property website, Mr Grievson spoke about living with his stepson and proved he is every inch the doting stepfather.
Speaking about their home renovation to PrimeResi, he said: 'It meant making a Narnia room for Alf, my stepson, in the eaves behind the clothes rail in his bedroom cupboard. I took the view that Lara and Alf were the most important clients I could ever have.
David Walliams and Lara Stone in 2010 at Hampton Court Palace. The pair divorced in 2015
'What I didn't know before is how much I'd enjoy doing the project with Lara or how useful she is as a sounding board!'
Meanwhile, it's said by insiders that Walliams, 54, and Stone, 41, 'don't exactly get on so well'.
This week Walliams, who was pictured yesterday looking despondent as he got into a car in London, revealed he would be spending Christmas apart from his only son.
Instead, Alfred will be with Stone and Grievson, to whom I'm told the boy is 'very close'.
Walliams, who shares custody of his son with his ex-wife, opened up during an interview on a New Zealand radio show to promote his latest book, ironically named Santa and Son, saying: 'This dad in the book is sort of a deadbeat dad but there's definitely a theme running through about parents, separated parents.
'And so, I was thinking a bit about sometimes the pain you feel as a parent when you don't have your child at Christmas. I think at Christmas there's a sort of thing that we've all got to be happy but often melancholy creeps in.'
Father and son will instead be enjoying a pre-Christmas holiday to The Maldives.
However, those who know him say it will not make up for his loneliness on the big day, and is yet another strand of his life that has not turned out as he might have hoped. It's fair to say he has had one of the fastest downfalls in recent showbiz history.
Walliams being picked up by a chauffer-driven Range Rover earlier this week
'David once had it all, he had the model girlfriend and was one of Britain's brightest stars but there has been a downturn and it has been so quick,' says one associate of his. 'Even those who don't like him feel sorry for him now.
'He hasn't really had any other girlfriends since and spends time feeling rather miserable down in Brighton.'
Yet three years ago, he was one of the UK's most bankable stars.
He was a judge on Britain's Got Talent and a close friend of head judge Simon Cowell. The pair would regularly socialise together, enjoying dinners in upmarket Mayfair restaurants.
Today, Cowell no longer follows Walliams on social media after he left BGT in November 2022 under a cloud, when audio of him making disparaging remarks about contestants off camera was leaked to a newspaper.
Microphones had picked up him using vile misogynistic language, describing one female as 'like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don't'.
While the comments were made while he and his fellow judges, Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden were off air, an agreement had been made that all their comments would be recorded for potential use.
Walliams apologised, but nevertheless sued the production company Fremantle for misuse of private information and breaching data laws. The company apologised and said the matter had been resolved and Walliams is thought to have walked away with about £5million.
Walliams with son Alfred as they celebrated World Book Day in 2023
But while he may have bolstered his bank balance, he lost friends.
A source close to the show said: 'It all got very toxic for David after that. He could be very rude at times, and would toady up to Simon a lot as he was the boss, but the staff lower down the food chain were not fans of his at all.'
There was also disquiet caused by his general behaviour towards fans, which was quite different to that of his co-stars.
One young woman came forward to tell me that bosses on the ITV show were at times left bewildered at his habit of inviting fans back to his dressing room and dishing out cupcakes.
'He wasn't doing anything wrong,' says a show insider. 'But it was all a bit odd. He would invite random people back, men and women in their early 20s.
'They were fans and it was wonderful to see them so happy and enjoying themselves. But nobody else did it. David is an odd fish.'
The insider added: 'Simon no longer has the friendship with David that he once had. Simon has wanted to distance himself since the BGT incident.' His friendly nature has extended to book launches – his children's books have sold at least 50 million copies – where he doesn't just chat to fans but has sometimes handed out his phone number so they can join him at other events.
His behaviour has sparked investigations to see whether he has been behaving improperly. It's important to say no wrongdoing has ever been found.
Walliams left Britain's Got Talent in November 2022 when audio of him making disparaging remarks about contestants off camera was leaked to a newspaper
'He's not doing anything wrong, he's just a bit strange,' as one insider told me.
Perhaps the 'strangeness' has made some wary. Showbusiness sources concede he is not being inundated with offers of work.
Since BGT there has been no prime-time show and two weeks ago he appeared on BBC Saturday night show The Wheel.
His area of expertise was James Bond, though viewers observed that he looked somewhat bored and was also chippy.
After he was 'shut down' on a question about the weather by one of the contestants – he had actually known the correct answer while they got it wrong – he yelled 'Guess who got it right?' Then he waved and said 'bye' aggressively at the departing contestant.
Walliams might have thought he was just being funny, but it came across as mean.
'Apart from his insults to the BGT contestants, David hasn't really ever done much wrong but he isn't on the television,' says an industry insider.
'Many TV bosses don't really like him very much, they don't want to work with him and they don't think the viewers like him.'
So, as well as being reunited with his son in time for 2026, he will surely also be hoping that his professional fortunes turn around and that his agent's phone starts ringing soon. Though as one former colleague tells me: 'He shouldn't hold his breath.'
