Disturbing moment David Walliams jokes about 'sharing a bed with 13-year-old boys' and says 'lock me up and throw away the key'

A clip of David Walliams making a joke about sharing his bed with 13-year-old boys has been circulating on social media.

Walliams was a guest on a 2009 episode of Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats, shortly after the death of Michael Jackson – who had admitted to sharing his bed with children.

The footage shows Walliams frantically waving his arm to get host Jimmy Carr's attention, before asking: 'Have you heard Michael Jackson is dead?' 

'People have been talking about it because he’s a controversial figure.' 

He then added: 'If it is wrong to share your bed with 13-year-old boys then lock me up and throw away the key.'

Fellow comedian Sean Lock, who was sitting beside Walliams, appeared completely unimpressed by the comment, staring blankly into the distance.

Lock, who died in 2021, has been praised for standing up to both Walliams and Russell Brand  – amid growing questions about how much the British TV establishment knew of their alleged conduct in the early 2000s.

Walliams, 55, has been unmasked as the celebrity who fought for a court order to suppress allegations that he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl and preyed on multiple teenage girls while 'abusing his status' to exploit teens.

On Tuesday, a three-year joint investigation by ITV News and The Guardian revealed a series of allegations dating back to 2003, with some accusers being as young as 15. Walliams denies all the allegations.

Meanwhile comedian Lucy Beaumont has said the TV industry needs better procedures for people to raise safeguarding issues as she revealed she was among people who spoke to The Guardian about allegations involving Walliams.

The 43-year-old said she raised concerns about Walliams after being told he was hosting teenage girls in his dressing room while working on a TV show and she was 'worried' about whether he had behaved inappropriately.

Beaumont discussed her response to the allegations involving Walliams while appearing on Sky News' The Cathy Newman Show yesterday, saying she 'wants to protect young women' in the TV industry.

'I don't know Walliams, I haven't worked with him but, bizarrely, it's been a really strange day for me because, about three years ago, a young person – and it was their first job on TV – worked on a show he was on and the next show that they worked on was with me.

'They took me aside and said, "I need to tell somebody something" and confided in me. Some of [Walliams's] conduct that they were really worried about.'

Beaumont said the young person told her they had to 'take young girls' who were 'definitely' over 16 to Walliams's dressing room, adding: 'He felt they were vulnerable.'

She added: 'At the time, he didn't think there was a process, a way to let people know within the TV company what was happening and how he felt and I was really worried.'

The Hull-born star added: 'I did as much as I could do privately. Whenever I've heard a rumour about anyone, I've done everything I can. There's only so much you can do. I'm not the police. Nothing seems to be illegal.

'But I was really worried, and I was one of the whistleblowers. I was one of the people to let The Guardian know.'

Speaking about the TV industry, she added: 'There's no proper duty of care. There's no social services that you deal with and it's partly because the industry is very well-managed.'

She added: 'These things slip through the net because, I think there will be now, but there hasn't been a process that you can deal with.'

Beaumont said she had never worked with Walliams or witnessed any inappropriate behaviour from him but was 'worried that these girls were young'.

The comic said she reached out to an alleged victim who was 'in a really bad way' and was worried about her wellbeing but said the woman 'declined my offer of support'.

She said she did not know if the allegations were true but had wanted to help.

Beaumont said she believed speaking out about her concerns might cost her TV work: 'The reason high-profile people are not saying anything is because they lose work, because you're seen that you might be a trouble causer.

'It does need to be said that there needs to be some intervention.'