Photo via Daily Mail

Jess Phillips says it is 'hard to believe' no one knew the suspicions about David Walliams' behaviour with young girls - after taking her children to meet the 'legend' during election campaign

Read the original at Daily Mail ↗
Cite

Wilcock, D. (2026, November 11). Jess Phillips says it is 'hard to believe' no one knew the suspicions about David Walliams' behaviour with young girls - after taking her children to meet the 'legend' during election campaign. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16283893/Jess-Phillips-hard-believe-no-one-suspicions-David-Walliams.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-11-11 · by David Wilcock

Quick Summary

Jess Phillips, a former Labour MP and safeguarding minister, expressed disbelief on Radio 4's Today programme that no one was aware of alleged inappropriate behavior by David Walliams towards teenage girls during his fame. This came after she previously took her children to meet Walliams, calling him a "legend," while campaigning for the 2019 general election. The allegations against Walliams stem from an investigation by ITV and the Guardian, which details claims that he may have engaged in misconduct involving young women associated with Britain's Got Talent.
Written by AI on 2026-11-12, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Jess Phillips, a former Labour Party activist, expressed disbelief that no one was aware of David Walliams' alleged inappropriate behavior towards teenage girls during his peak fame. Phillips made this statement after taking her children to meet Walliams, whom she called a "legend," during a Labour election campaign. The allegations against Walliams, who was a judge on Britain's Got Talent (BGT), emerged from an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. Phillips criticized the entertainment industry for allegedly allowing teenage girls to meet Walliams without chaperones and for using non-disclosure agreements to silence potential victims. She emphasized that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and highlighted cases where individuals tried to report misconduct but were silenced.

Written for “David Walliams Suspicions Controversy” on 2026-11-13, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.50, but 2 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 144593: no verified evidence · logged 2026-11-12

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
Hedges 4 of 57 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the David Walliams scandal, with one focusing on Jess Phillips' comments and the other on Lou Teasdale's claims about industry practices.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 6 of 46 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the allegations against David Walliams, with Article A focusing on the police urging women to come forward and the media investigation, while Article B focuses on Jess Phillips' reaction to the allegations and her involvement in taking her children to meet Walliams.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 6 of 45 claims Outlet record 67/100
“While both articles discuss the same allegations against David Walliams, Article A focuses on the legal battle to suppress the accusations and the publication of the investigation, whereas Article B covers a reaction from Jess Phillips regarding the same allegations but in a different context and with a different focus.”
Daily Mail
Leans left Hedges 7 of 52 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the same broader issue involving David Walliams, but they do not describe the same specific incident or time frame.”
Daily Mail
Leans left Hedges 5 of 39 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles cover related issues but describe different specific events: one focuses on Jess Phillips' comments about David Walliams' behavior, while the other discusses a broader legal crackdown initiated by the Culture Secretary due to the Walliams and Brand scandals.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 44 claims Outlet record 64/100
“While both articles discuss allegations against David Walliams, Article A focuses on the initial accusation and investigation, while Article B covers Jess Phillips' reaction to the allegations and her criticism of the entertainment industry's handling of the situation.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 21 claims Outlet record 64/100
“While both articles discuss the same allegations against David Walliams, they describe different aspects of the event: Article A focuses on the specific allegations and Walliams' denial, while Article B focuses on Jess Phillips' reaction and her previous actions regarding Walliams.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 10 of 110 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the same allegations against David Walliams but do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
The Guardian
Hedges 3 of 43 claims Outlet record 65/100
“Article A details the accusations against David Walliams, while Article B reports on Jess Phillips' reaction to these accusations and discusses safeguarding measures.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 51 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A reports on the accusations and denial regarding David Walliams' alleged sexual misconduct, while Article B focuses on Jess Phillips' reaction to these allegations and her criticism of the entertainment industry's handling of the situation.”

Story

David Walliams Suspicions Controversy
Entertainment · 1 article(s) covering the same event.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
70/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-12 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 10765 article(s) · 24 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 24 correction(s)

Who wrote this

David Wilcock
82 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
'He called Rosebank 'climate vandalism', but then he also thought cosying up to Russell Brand would make him prime minister,' she added.
It follows his unsuccessful attempts to seek an injunction to prevent the publications because of the risk he would take his own life, after two previous suicide attempts.
Welfare campaigners accused Mrs Badenoch of wanting to take the UK 'back to the Dark Ages' – but she warned Britain can no longer afford to support a system that is set to cost £5,917 per household by 2030.
The Tory leader highlighted how many people with physical and mental disabilities have overcome adversity through hard work as she warned the cost of the handout system is 'crushing our economy' Mrs Badenoch will publish a 52-page report setting out the case for reform and the details of the proposals.
Wes Streeting has warned Vladimir Putin could trigger a new war in Europe by mistake as he said he would like the British and Russian military to talk more to avoid a conflict starting by accident.
As they continue to be criminalised they will - de facto - be stigmatised.
Andy Burnham has fuelled fears that Britain will be on the hook to make massive reparations for its historic role in the slave trade after he agreed Britain would take part in talks with Commonwealth nations.
In 2025, when she was still in No11, she said the UK could do with more of his 'boosterism', adding: 'I think we do need more positivity.'
The issue will dominate a meeting of leaders, with Mr Burnham beginning talks over a formal apology and the King set to speak about the issue with 'unflinching honesty'.
But the Chancellor said details of where this cash will come from will be left until the spending review, pencilled in for next autumn.
Also by David Wilcock
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 82 articles by David Wilcock →

Topics

BGT Guardian ITV News Labour Radio 4's

Subjects

Walliams PERSON · 8× Labour ORG · 5× Phillips PERSON · 5× BGT ORG · 4× Guardian ORG · 2× ITV News ORG · 2× Jess Phillips PERSON · 2× David Walliams' PERSON · 1× Radio 4's ORG · 1× [Russell] Brand PERSON · 1×

Narrative

While campaigning for Labour ahead of the 2019 general election, Jess Phillips posted an image of her two children with Walliams The former Labour activist, whose membership was suspended yesterday, posted his own picture from the meeting with Ms Phillips, calling her 'my hero... who should be prime minister'
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-12
It follows his unsuccessful attempts to seek an injunction to prevent the publications because of the risk he would take his own life, after two previous suicide attempts.

Claims (18 extracted, 1 hedged)

Labour's Jess Phillips today said it was 'dazzlingly hard to believe' no one was aware of David Walliams' alleged behaviour towards teenage girls at the height of his fame – despite taking her own children to meet the 'legend'. asserted
one → say → legend
The former safeguarding minister lashed out at the entertainment industry after it was alleged teenage girls were sent to Walliams' Britain's Got Talent (BGT) dressing room without a chaperone. asserted
girls → lash → chaperone
She said safeguarding was 'the responsibility of everybody' after the best-selling author and former BGT judge, 55, was named as part of an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News yesterday, after he tried to obtain an injunction to prevent the reporting of allegations against him. asserted
he → say → him
Ms Phillips told Radio 4's Today programme: 'I have to say I find it dazzlingly hard to believe that people didn't know about this or didn't see that there were patterns. asserted
people → tell → this
There are also cases that are coming out that worked on various different programmes saying they tried to report, that they were made to sign Non Disclosure Agreements. asserted
they → be → Agreements
'There are no two ways about the fact that this was propped up, whether you are talking about the [Russell] Brand story or the Walliams story, this is the responsibility of everybody.' asserted
this → be → everybody
While campaigning for Labour ahead of the 2019 general election, Ms Phillips posted a picture of her two children meeting Walliams as a 'birthday treat', describing him as a 'legend' who 'spoilt them rotten'. asserted
who → campaign → them
While campaigning for Labour ahead of the 2019 general election, Jess Phillips posted an image of her two children with Walliams The former Labour activist, whose membership was suspended yesterday, posted his own picture from the meeting with Ms Phillips, calling her 'my hero... who should be prime minister' asserted
who → campaign → her
The former Labour activist, whose membership was suspended yesterday, posted his own picture from the meeting with Ms Phillips, calling her 'my hero ... who should be prime minister'. asserted
who → suspend → her
Walliams, who joined BGT as a judge in 2012, left the show in 2022 after he apologised for making 'disrespectful comments' about auditioning contestants during filming breaks in January 2020 at the London Palladium, two months after posing with Ms Phillips. asserted
he → join → Phillips
He denies 'buying' a junior BGT employee's silence following allegations from a man, named as Mark, who claimed he received £300 from the star after he walked into his dressing room and found two 'very young people' in there while the TV star was only wearing a towel. asserted
star → deny → towel
A spokesperson for Fremantle UK, which makes BGT, said the company is 'disturbed and concerned' at the 'serious allegations', but added that no complaint was ever made to them about his behaviour. Mr Walliams has not yet responded to Tuesday's reports that have named him as the subject of the allegations. asserted
that → make → allegations
But through lawyers he has vehemently denied all allegations made against him, rejects any allegations of criminal activity and said he has never engaged in the grooming of young women. asserted
he → deny → women
It follows his unsuccessful attempts to seek an injunction to prevent the publications because of the risk he would take his own life, after two previous suicide attempts. asserted
he → follow → attempts
Judge Mr Justice Nicklin refused the bid for an injunction, ruling it would be an 'exceptionally serious interference' with freedom of expression. asserted
it → refuse → expression
The Metropolitan Police said it has contacted the Guardian and ITV News 'to ensure that any potential victims' are 'made aware of how they could report any criminal allegations to police', after the sexual misconduct claims were made. uncertain
claims → say → police
Several sources alleged inappropriate behaviour towards women at the prime-time show Britain's Got Talent (BGT), where Walliams served as a judge from 2012 to 2022, and his publisher HarperCollins, which dropped him last year. asserted
which → allege → him
Walliams had his Labour Party membership suspended and Downing Street described the allegations as 'deeply troubling'. asserted
Street → have → allegations
Give feedback · no sign-in needed

No sign-in needed for now. Your note is sent without a name, so it cannot be answered.

History Support