David Walliams could not resist taunting Simon Cowell with his best TV judge award on the new series of Britain’s Got Talent, their fellow panellists have said.
Comedian and presenter Walliams scooped the accolade at the National Television Awards (NTA), three years after he first took it home.
Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden, who sit alongside Walliams and Cowell on the panel of the ITV talent programme, said the star made sure his gongs were on show as they filmed the auditions.
Dixon said: “David has brought along his NTA to a couple of auditions and popped it on the table.
“Whenever Simon does or says something that irritates David, he picks up his award, puts it on the table and says, ‘Well, I am the nation’s favourite judge, darling’. Simon hates that with a passion.”
Holden said: “I think Simon’s taken it well, considering, and David is banging on about it constantly, as you would expect. He’s brought them to auditions and uses them as weights most days.”
Walliams teased: “Simon is very competitive so it was nice to beat him.
“I think we were both beaten by Mary Berry a couple of years ago, but I think it gets to Simon because he’s a very competitive person. Anything that makes him unhappy, makes me happy.”
Cowell joked that he expects he will be the last one of the BGT team to be recognised.
“This may sound like sour grapes, but I’m going to say it… he canvasses all year long!” he insisted.
“I found him once sending out tweets begging and pleading, I’ve never done that before, maybe I should. He’s not the most popular judge, he just isn’t!”
He continued: “Being around everyone, you’ve got Ant (McPartlin) and Dec (Donnelly) and now David.
“I know what’s coming next – it’ll be Alesha and Amanda. I will literally be the only person without anything. I can see this one coming. It’s annoying, it really is, and they don’t let it go!”
Britain’s Got Talent airs on Saturday April 14 at 8pm on ITV.