Marina Hyde alleges Britain’s Got Talent team leaked Walliams recordings to oust him

Marina Hyde has claimed that people associated with Britain’s Got Talent deliberately leaked recordings of David Walliams’s comments about contestants in order to force him off the show. Walliams left his judging role in November 2022 after the recordings became public; the claim about who leaked them remains an allegation.

The comments were recorded during audition breaks at the London Palladium in 2020. Walliams later sued producer Fremantle, alleging that conversations had been recorded and retained without his knowledge; the company apologised after the recording was made public, and the case was resolved amicably. The article also reports that The Guardian had approached Walliams about separate allegations of inappropriate conduct around the time he left the programme, which he denied.