Simon Cowell: David Walliams went from shaky with nerves to “monster” on BGT
The nation's favourite Britain's Got Talent judge grills his boss in this week's Radio Times...
It’s a dangerous game to ask your boss if they regret hiring you, but not one David Walliams is afraid to play. That's probably because he’s officially the nation’s favourite judge after winning at the National Television Awards.
So does Cowell regret adding Walliams to the panel?
“Yes, actually! You’re quite annoying,” Cowell teases his fellow BGT judge in this week’s Radio Times magazine.
Cowell reveals there’s been quite a change in Walliams over the past few series, and that the comic actor had much less confidence at first.
“The first few days on the panel you were very quiet and kept nodding your head. It was the weirdest thing. You were just sitting there… I remember thinking, ‘Do I say anything or not?’ And then I realised, because I saw your hand shaking, that you were nervous, and it was kind of sweet and innocent.”
More like this
“Four years later, I’m sitting next to a monster,” he jokes, referring to Walliams’ onscreen hijinks, which range from backing bonkers acts to forcing Cowell to dance.
“Of your own creation,” Walliams retorts, before revealing he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted the job.
“I loved the show, but wasn’t sure I’d be any good at judging. The hard thing is, you think, ‘Can I actually judge others? Can I sit there and press the buzzer when they’re not good? Can I say no to people?’ But actually…”
Despite the public voting Walliams their favourite judge, Cowell is confident he still reigns supreme.
“’Mine is the opinion people want to hear. Even if they’ve got three yeses and they know they’re through – David, you will say yes, not much of a reaction; Alesha, even less of a reaction; Amanda, nothing; at that point they have got through, but I’m in the one they’re waiting for. Pause – ‘It’s four yeses!’ – then they go mental.”
“It’s annoying but true…” Walliams adds. “But if we had four Simons on the panel, it would be a bit of a downer.”
Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times magazine available in newsagents and on the Apple newsstand from Tuesday 19th May
Read more:
