So why did David Walliams accept ‘only £1 million’ in his Britain’s Got Talent lawsuit after claiming £10 million? Former show judge walks away with ‘a year’s salary while he settles legal battle’

David Walliams settled his Britain’s Got Talent lawsuit for ‘comfortably less’ than the £10million he demanded and walked away with £1million, it has been claimed.

Insiders have indicated that the settlement amount was equivalent to approximately one year’s salary.

It was confirmed on Monday that the 52-year-old TV star had settled his lawsuit against Freemantle, the makers of Britain’s Got Talent, after he was forced out of the ITV show following the publication of comments he made during the judging panel.

David stepped down as a judge a year ago after a recording of him making insulting comments about participants was leaked.

It is claimed that the settlement figure is due to many of David’s arguments in the case against Freemantle ‘failing’.

Fremantle had to accept that their security procedures had failed, allowing Walliams’ comments to be leaked to the Guardian, hence the decision to settle.

Sources have told MailOnline that the star agreed to a settlement that was ‘well below’ the £10million he was seeking, comfortably less than £5million.

The former Little Britain star is said to have claimed in court documents that producers ‘recorded, transcribed and preserved’ all of his conversations during his ten-year stint and that he had no idea his microphone was ‘on and recording’ all day. of filming.

He claimed 1,700 hours of audio recordings had been collected, including a personal conversation with fellow judges Alesha Dixon, Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden about the impact of his father’s death.

He claimed Fremantle was breaching data protection rules, but Fremantle pointed to the fact that BGT announced in April 2018 that all cameras would ‘now run 24/7’.

The star was recorded on a hot mic during an audition show at the London Palladium, with an older contestant shouting ‘c***’ three times as they left the stage.

He also claimed that another participant would think he wanted to ‘fuck’ her. Walliams had publicly apologized when the recordings were first published by The Guardian last year.

In High Court documents released last month, his lawyers argued the comments were part of a private conversation not intended for broadcast. Lawyers for Thames TV, the production company behind BGT, agreed.

The insiders have indicated that the relatively modest settlement was equivalent to around a year’s salary – around £1 million (pictured on the show with fellow judges Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell

The court documents also revealed that he received a letter from The Guardian about his leaked audio last year, months before he was offered a new contract with BGT.

Walliams claimed the letter published was the first time he realized Fremantle was “collecting and storing far more of his personal information than he had understood.”

However, a Fremantle source said the show’s judges knew they were being recorded at all times, adding to the publication: ‘It seems slightly bizarre given that it was widely reported in 2018 that any comments the judges made at the desk would be included. , even if they didn’t speak to the participants.’

Walliams’ lawyers say he accepted the job offer 18 days after The Guardian’s November 10, 2022 article was published.

However, Fremantle withdrew the offer on December 14 as Walliams claimed it was ‘in response to the publication’ of the article.

Court documents revealed that the author and broadcaster stated that his earnings had been ‘very seriously reduced’ due to the negative publicity surrounding the story

David said in court documents that since his discharge he has struggled with severe depression and has had “active thoughts of suicide.” In a report, psychiatrist Dr Mark Collins, who has been treating David for years, said the star’s depression was ‘possibly the worst since I first met him’.

Collins said the leak of the transcripts “has had a profound, serious and at times deeply worrying effect on his mental health.”

Court documents also revealed that the star stated that his earnings had been “very seriously reduced” due to the negative publicity surrounding the story.

David claimed the BBC stopped funding one of his projects after his foul-mouthed comments on Britain’s Got Talent came to light.

According to the comedian, the BBC has withdrawn part of the funding for an animated series of his 2011 book Gangsta Granny due to ‘negative publicity’.

Last October it was reported that the series was in development but would not yet be commissioned by the BBC, with funding from the company prior to David’s BGT scandal.

Non-BBC adaptations of the star’s books were also axed, according to documents filed by David’s lawyer.

A spokesperson for Freemantle said on Monday: ‘We are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution to this dispute with David. We sincerely apologize that his private conversations during a jury interview on Britain’s Got Talent were published and the great distress this has caused David.

“We have reviewed our production practices on the show to ensure they fully respect the expectations of our talent while meeting the demands of the show. We have had a good relationship with David for years.

‘We thank David for being such an important part of the Britain’s Got Talent family and the show’s continued success and hope to have the opportunity to work with him in the future.’

Representatives of Walliams have been contacted by MailOnline for comment.