Alesha Dixon breaks her silence on David Walliams’ exit from BGT: ‘I’ll miss him dearly’

Walliams, 51, left the ITV show ahead of its 2023 series
Alesha Dixon said Walliams’ departure from BGT left her “deeply saddened”
PA
Lisa McLoughlin 20 March 2023
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Alesha Dixon has broken her silence on David Walliams’ exit from Britain’s Got Talent, admitting his departure has left her “deeply saddened”.

The Little Britain star, 51, quit the ITV series ahead of its 2023 instalment after a leaked recording caught him calling an elderly performer on the talent show the C-word three times.

Speaking about Walliams’ exit in the latest issue of Waitrose Weekend, Dixon, 44, shared: “I haven’t spoken about it, but of course, I’m deeply saddened because David is a great friend.

“I love him very much. We started the show together, and I’ll miss him dearly.”

In November, the comedian was forced to apologise after the profanity-laden recording emerged.

Walliams left the ITV talent series
ITV

According to a transcript leaked to the Guardian, the best-selling children’s author also said of a female hopeful: “She’s like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them but you don’t.”

Walliams’ slurs were picked up by a microphone used to record chats between him and fellow judges Holden, Cowell, and Dixon at the London Palladium in January 2020.

At the time, the star, who joined BGT in 2012, was reprimanded for his derogatory comments by show bosses.

In the wake of the fallout, he said in a statement: “I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming for Britain’s Got Talent in 2020.

“These were private conversations and, like most conversations with friends, were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry.”

Bruno Tonioli (L) has joined Dixon, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell on the judging panel
PA Wire

In January, Tonioli was announced as a judge for the next instalment of BGT after Alan Carr was initially rumoured to be joining.

The Italian star was a judge on BBC’s Strictly from 2004 up until 2020. He has since been replaced on the show by Anton Du Beke.

The choreographer continues to judge on the US version of the show Dancing with the Stars, which is due to start filming again in Autumn.

Tonioli won over Strictly fans for his outlandish charm, and will no doubt bring his same lively persona to BGT’s judging panel.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in