Bruno Tonioli says David Walliams was first person to congratulate him on Britain’s Got Talent role

Tonioli said former judge’s response was ‘absolute class’

Bruno Tonioli has praised David Walliams for reaching out with a “class” response after he joined the panel of Britain’s Got Talent.

The former Strictly Come Dancing judge will appear alongside Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell on the judging panel for the new series of the talent competition, which returns this week.

Tonioli replaces Little Britain star Walliams, whose departure was announced in January. Months earlier, Walliams had come under fire after a leaked set recording from 2020 heard the actor and author making sexually explicit comments about a BGT contestant.

Speaking to the Radio Times, Tonioli said that Walliams had been the first person to congratulate him for joining the show.

“I haven’t seen David, but he was the first person to send me a message saying congratulations,” the Italian choreographer said.

“He also sent a fantastic bottle of Italian wine to my dressing room on my first day. I thought that was absolute class.”

Tonioli had previously appeared on the Strictly judging panel since the show began in 2004, leaving in 2020 after the pandemic meant he wasn’t able to travel between the US (where he judged Dancing with the Stars) and UK on a weekly basis.

Tonioli at ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ auditions in February (Getty Images)

Comedian Walliams was a judge on BGT from 2012 until 2022, leaving the show earlier this year after his controversial remarks were made public.

A transcript obtained by The Guardian allegedly revealed that Walliams described a woman as being like “the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don’t”.

In an apology shared with The Independent at the time, Walliams said: “I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming for Britain’s Got Talent in 2020. These were private conversations and – like most conversations with friends – were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry.”

Britain’s Got Talent returns Saturday 15 April at 8pm on ITV.