5 things we learned from our chat with David Walliams
David Walliams has promised “a lot of razzmatazz” when it comes to the 10th series of Britain’s Got Talent, with the comedian revealing he’s “always been a fan” of the show.
But, what will the new series bring for the object of his affection Simon Cowell? What caused him to get emotional? And what’s all this about a restraining order? Check out more from David below…
1. David and Simon love each other really
Despite their love/hate relationship on the show, David has assured us that himself and Simon really are BFFs. He explained: “People often mention to me that they like the chemistry between us, the fact that we wind each other up the whole time. He once said to me, ‘You’re only happy when I am unhappy, and I’m only happy when you’re unhappy’, so it’s a very dysfunctional relationship but we do like spending time together and he does make the whole experience constantly funny and interesting. He’s actually been in a really good mood this year which has made it really fun. He often nicks my jokes and passes them off as his own, that’s a bit irritating but other than that we’ve got on well.”
2. But... Simon does has a ‘restraining order’ on David!
After stating that his “main beef” is that he’s “too far away from Simon, that irritates me, I think I should be closer to him”, David went on to address rumours that Simon has a restraining order on him, stating: “He’s saying this year that it’s in the contract that I have to remain ten feet away from him at all times. Last year it was ten inches but that didn’t work!”
3. He’s pleased more comedians are on the show
Seeing as his roots are with comedy, David admitted he's happy more comedians have auditioned for BGT this year, stating: "I think they have always been a bit shy of coming on the show. I think it’s a tough atmosphere for comics, but impressionists have always done well, that’s not something you see so much on TV at the moment even though people find it really entertaining. The thing we’ve got this year is witty impressionists who have great material and do impressions no one else does. We’ve had some bad impressionists too. There’s nothing worse when a comic doesn’t do well on the show… I’d love to see a comedian win the show. I honestly thought Jack Carroll could have won it, he was a runner up."
4. Even our favourite funnyman gets emotional!
David was SO moved by a singer from Malta during the Auditions, he ended up shedding a tear (or two). He explained: “It was very emotional when Norbert came on the stage because he was having a tough time talking to us because he had a very pronounced stutter. I guess if you do stutter then an experience of being in front of thousands of people on the TV judging you then it’s going to make it worse. But then when he sang it was faultless. And after he sang he was on such a high and was so happy that his stutter had really receded and it was very moving. I think this show gives people opportunities that they otherwise might not have. It was just one of those things when someone does something extraordinary and they leave whatever problems they might have behind and do something utterly fabulous.”
5. Look out for the "prime man meat"
David’s words not ours! Recalling one of the raunchy Auditions, David said: “This year we have got some prime man meat on the show and not just on the judging panel, on the stage as well. We have two guys - they are actually too handsome, I don’t think it should be allowed - doing these two incredible acts. They are basically acrobatic acts but involve a degree of nudity which livens it up a bit! Of course, Amanda and Alesha really like those kind of acts and I guess I do too. One of these guys is from Paris and did this incredible act where he’s in a bath in his jeans and then on these ropes, it was just extraordinary. I think male nudity works better on the show than female nudity for some reason. It’s quite a camp show and that’s what we all like, I think Simon kind of likes those acts too.”
You can catch more from David when Britain’s Got Talent returns to ITV this Saturday (April 9) at 7pm.