David Walliams: Dressing up as a girl at school allowed me to escape from anti-gay abuse
David Walliams says dressing up as a girl during his childhood provided him with an escape from homophobic taunts.
The Britain’s Got Talent judge played Queen Henrietta Maria in a school production of All The King’s Men when he was 11 and it gave him a feeling of acceptance.
“I wasn’t a happy child,” the 41-year-old said to TV Magazine. “I was definitely teased for being girly. At that time, the biggest insult was being called gay so being on stage was an escape – there I was, embracing my femininity and sharing the joke.
“I think something happened when people were laughing while I was wearing a dress and acting camp.
“I obviously made a connection that this was a way that I could be funny and get approval. And that stayed with me.”
“I’ve married a supermodel yet there I am on Britain’s Got Talent with Simon Cowell, camping it up.”
