David Walliams, once a staple figure as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent, recently found himself unceremoniously dropped by his publisher, HarperCollins, following allegations of inappropriate behavior toward junior female staff members. Walliams, who had successfully transitioned into a bestselling children’s author, was surprisingly let go, suggesting the seriousness of the claims. Personally, I had always wondered why it hadn’t happened sooner, given his reputation for rudeness. My own encounter with him in late 2022 left a lasting impression of arrogance and egotism, marking him as the most unpleasant celebrity I’ve interviewed in my career.

To provide some background, the interview took place not long after Walliams left the ITV talent show under a cloud of controversy, following leaked recordings of him making derogatory remarks about contestants. Despite the timing, my conversation with him was set up by the BBC to discuss Gangsta Granny Rides Again, a festive film adaptation of his popular book. It was meant to be a straightforward interview without any probing questions, focusing solely on the film and his collaboration with actress Sheridan Smith.

While such interviews usually appeal to actors and writers, as they avoid personal scrutiny, Walliams seemed disinterested from the outset. Logging into the Zoom call, he appeared bored, a stark contrast to the lively and engaging Sheridan Smith. Despite their apparent friendship, Walliams monopolized the conversation, barely addressing the questions and instead indulging in lengthy monologues about himself and his work.

Throughout the interview, I found myself repeatedly redirecting questions toward Sheridan, who was more than willing to participate but often overshadowed by Walliams. His displeasure was evident whenever she spoke, leading me to think how intolerable it would be to maintain a friendship with someone so self-centered. What was intended as a simple task turned into a challenging experience due to his demeanor.

On several occasions I had to interject and redirect a question to Sheridan for an answer, and he did not appear happy when she was talking instead of him. I remember thinking at the time, ‘I would dump a friend of mine if they acted like that.’ He made a really straightforward part of my job truly painful.

He was so rude, dismissive and long winded I knew it was going to be difficult to turn that interview into anything engaging. Plans to run it as a dual 50/50 chat were quickly scrapped as he hadn’t let Sheridan say enough (although we obviously used her quotes as well). Trying to eke the least tedious quotes from his waffle actually gave me a headache.

I was a big fan of Little Britain, and until that point I was even prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt about the Britain’s Got Talent incident since he was pursuing a legal action against them. I had never written anything negative about him and had enjoyed pretty much all of his work to that point.

However that 20 minute encounter completely changed my opinion of him. I was just trying to do my job and he seemed determined to make it as difficult as possible. Yes, he could have been having a bad day. But it didn’t feel like he was in a random mood – this seemed like his organic state.

I was heading to the premiere of Matilda the Musical’s big screen outing that night, and I told journalist friends about it. Every one of them was horrified. I told my editor about his actions and I am sure they thought I was exaggerating, such was his public cheeky chappie persona at the time.

I have never been turned off a celebrity as quickly as I was him and I honestly have no desire to ever talk to him again. Given that he is losing contracts left right and centre now, it is unlikely I will ever have to.