Jeremy Edwards has described being sexually humiliated by David Walliams during a live Comic Relief sketch.
The British actor says the comedian pulled down his trousers, exposing him, before simulating a sex act in front of an audience of around 3,500 people, including many leading showbusiness figures.
The incident was recorded for a DVD release that remains available to purchase online.
Jeremy, who was previously engaged to S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens, says he endured years of embarrassment after the incident despite being, in his view, the victim.
The 55-year-old had agreed to appear in a light-hearted Little Britain sketch with Walliams and comedian David Baddiel at London’s Hammersmith Apollo in November 2006.
However, he alleges that Walliams deceived him and deliberately carried out the assault. Walliams has since faced allegations concerning his conduct towards women and girls, which he has denied.
Jeremy Edwards has spoken about the shame he says he experienced after appearing in the notorious ‘hide the sausage’ sketch with David Walliams
Edwards, who became known through the Channel Four soap Hollyoaks, says the incident was ‘not OK’ and believes it was deliberately planned by Walliams
Edwards says Walliams tickled him, prompting him to raise his arms, then pulled down his trousers. When Edwards bent over to pull them up, Walliams tackled him and climbed on top of him in front of the packed theatre
The actor says he remains angry that Walliams did not warn him what was going to happen, adding that the incident has stayed with him for years
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail for the first time, he said: ‘It was abuse. I did not agree to it.
‘You cannot do that to people. Having your trousers pulled down and standing there in your boxer shorts is one thing. Having your penis exposed is entirely different.
‘I had no idea that was going to happen. I am angry because why did they think I would be comfortable with it?
‘If they had asked me, “They are going to expose you in front of everyone; do you agree?” the answer would have been no.
‘This is about consent, and I did not consent.
‘In reality, it happened instantly. It is all on video.
‘If I had known my genitals would be exposed in front of all those people, then put on a DVD that sold millions of copies and later circulated online, I would never have agreed to it.
‘He knew what he intended to do and had no hesitation about doing it to me.
‘It is not something I am proud of, but I am the victim. I wish it had never happened.
‘It was meant to be a bit of fun, but instead it has haunted me for years.’
Insisting that Walliams, also 55, had misled him, Jeremy added: ‘I have never received an apology.’
For years, Jeremy said he assumed the incident had been an accident and that Walliams had not intended to take the routine that far for the sake of a laugh.
Only later was he shown footage of Walliams performing similar stunts in which other members of the public were also exposed.
He said: ‘I never realised it was deliberate.
‘It was only recently, after seeing footage from earlier shows, that I understood it had always been the plan. My trousers were not pulled down by accident.
‘They deliberately brought me on stage for that. There are videos of him doing it to other men, sometimes in an even more extreme way, including pulling them by the ankles and spinning them around after taking their trousers down.
‘I feel foolish that I thought I could not say anything. I can only imagine how much worse that pressure must feel for members of the public.’
The sketch later became one of the highlights of the 2007 DVD Comic Relief Does Little Britain Live.
The release also featured Walliams and Matt Lucas alongside a high-profile cast including Jonathan Ross, Dawn French, Russell Brand and Peter Kay.
Jeremy, who was known for his youthful appearance, agreed to take part at short notice after Duncan James of the band Blue withdrew.
The father of two, who rose to fame in the Channel Four soap Hollyoaks and later appeared in the medical drama Holby City, had attended the event with his wife Lydia and a friend.
Walliams appeared in the sketch as Des Kay, a predatory gay former children’s entertainer and television presenter.
Footage that later went viral shows the character playing ‘hide the sausage’ before lunging at Jeremy, pulling down both his jeans and underwear and exposing him.
Recalling what happened, Jeremy said: ‘I was contacted on the day of the show because Duncan from Blue had pulled out at the last minute. He had been due to perform with David Baddiel.
Edwards says he went to the toilets afterwards to be alone and process what had happened. His wife Lydia, pictured, was concerned about him
‘The idea was that David Walliams’ character fancied mine. Duncan was supposed to do it, and they wanted someone with a similar teenage heart-throb image.
‘I was keen to take part, partly because of David Walliams and, ironically, Russell Brand — they were major names in comedy at the time.
‘I was given a very short script. It introduced the character and said he played this game.
‘The joke was that he fancied me, was infatuated with me and behaved inappropriately. He was supposed to chase me around the stage trying to pull down my trousers. I imagined something like Benny Hill.
‘I agreed. Everyone was there — Jonathan Ross, who always seems to be around, Dawn French, Kate Moss and many others.
‘I was nervous. He brought me out of the audience and I went on stage. When the moment came, he was very calculated.
‘He tickled me under the arms, making me pull them towards my chest. He then dropped to his knees and pulled down both my trousers and underwear, leaving me completely naked from the waist down in front of 3,500 people.
‘I bent down to pull my clothes up, and he knocked me over while I was off balance. He mounted me and sexually humiliated me. The audience found it hilarious.
‘I could not get him off. I am 6ft 2ins, but he is a large, strong man. I ended up tapping out like a wrestler and saying, “Get off me.” Eventually I stood up and pulled my trousers back on.
‘I was completely unprepared for it. If they had told me he would debag me in front of everyone, I would not have agreed. I did not want to be humiliated like that, but I was.
‘I was angry, but mostly embarrassed and humiliated. It was deeply uncomfortable.
‘I went to the toilet to get away. I was supposed to return to the auditorium, but I felt like a fool and did not want to go back.
‘I waited at the bar for my wife Lydia, who expected me to return to our seats. People kept approaching me and laughing about what had happened.
‘When my wife arrived, she asked if I was all right. She felt sorry for me because it was so embarrassing.
‘Most people laughed it off, apart from Rufus Sewell, who was wonderful. He could see I was not all right and asked how I was.
‘Walliams then came over and said, “Of course he is all right — he got the biggest laugh of the night.”’
The Comic Relief sketch also featured Walliams’ friend Russell Brand
Jonathan Ross was among the celebrities attending the event
‘I was made to feel foolish for being humiliated. I think that was his way of justifying what he had done: it was for the laughs, it was Comic Relief, and I was not supposed to take it seriously.
‘I was not comfortable with it, but peer pressure made me feel I had to pretend that I was.
‘I felt foolish. The next day, one newspaper accused me of being a bad sport and throwing a tantrum because I did not attend the curtain call.’
‘It was an extraordinary line-up to be part of. I was only a small filler role, but after what happened the sketch became one of the most popular moments and was placed on the DVD.
‘They sent me a copy, but I have never watched it. David never asked whether I was all right or apologised. The most upsetting part is that it was planned. I did not understand that until recently, and it showed very little respect.
‘I knew David. We were neighbours in Primrose Hill and used to walk our dogs together.
‘He could have warned me. He could have shown basic courtesy.
‘I had considered him a friend, which makes me angry. He brought me into that situation intending to do it.
‘The fact that it was always the plan is upsetting. People say, “Get over it, it was a joke, you got a big laugh.” But you cannot do that to people.
‘Now the clip has gone viral again. How many millions of views has it had? Whenever I take part in a theatre production, people search for me and say, “My God, this happened to you.”
‘If someone like me, a reasonably established man working in the industry, felt so much pressure not to complain, it shows how much greater that pressure must be for people outside the industry. It shows the power these people have.
‘I left feeling that I had been a bad sport, but it was not acceptable. Then they put it on the DVD because it was supposedly funny that a man had been humiliated in front of thousands of people.
‘I am angry about it now. I think I always was, but I did not feel able to say anything.’
Jeremy continues to work as an actor and writer, while earning much of his income through public-speaking training.
He said he could not know for certain whether the incident damaged his career, but added: ‘It is the bane of my life. It will not disappear.
‘Rather than leaving with a small career boost after giving my time to a good cause, I left having been completely humiliated. The footage remains, and it keeps resurfacing.
‘Nobody apologised to me.
‘When David was dismissed from Britain’s Got Talent, I told him that people wanted me to speak publicly about it. I chose not to, because I had a misplaced sense of loyalty. He thanked me for staying silent.’
Explaining his decision to speak now, he said: ‘For me, the key issues are the planning and the pressure.
‘I thought it had been a blooper. I believed he was a decent person and did not want to add to his problems. But it was deliberate, and that changes everything.
‘As a society, we should not accept this. We should not accept people behaving as though they are untouchable.
‘Everyone was there. It was a major event. I felt privileged to be involved, but I ended up as the target of everyone’s joke.
‘I was surrounded by people I admired, yet I was in a world of pain.
‘I was deceived. I feel like a fool.
Walliams, pictured in January, was identified as the celebrity at the centre of an injunction linked to claims involving teenage girls and young women
‘I am going to end up being known as the man who was humiliated on stage by David Walliams.’
Walliams has previously given his own account of the incident, saying: ‘I performed the sketch with Holby City actor Jeremy Edwards and pulled down his trousers.
‘His underwear came down at the same time, which was a mistake.
‘It is an easy mistake to make. But I did expose him to thousands of people at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. I felt bad about it afterwards — but not that bad.’
Walliams performed the sketch repeatedly while touring the UK with Lucas on the Little Britain Live Tour, which began in 2005. The pair also performed 32 shows in Australia in 2007.
In 2007, the BBC broadcast a documentary featuring Walliams performing the routine during a Little Britain stage show in Australia, where he targeted three teenage boys from the audience.
The footage, which included simulated sex acts and appeared to show Walliams kissing the boys’ buttocks, caused outrage after resurfacing on social media in 2020.
It showed Walliams ‘groping’ and ‘humiliating’ the three audience members, who were reported to be aged between 16 and 18, during the same game.