David Walliams has offered his support to Ant McPartlin ahead of Britain’s Got Talent’s return.
Ant last month returned to rehab for treatment, stepping down from his TV commitments.
Praising Ant and co-host Dec, David revealed he understood how “hard” it is dealing with troubles in the public eye.
“Ant and Dec are incredibly relatable and recognisable and the hard thing when you’re well-known is that when things go awry in your life, it gets played out in public,” he said this week.
In an interview with the Radio Times, David candidly opened up: “I remember when my father was dying, I was on the phone to him and people were coming up for selfies.
“It’s hard as they want you to be smiley and happy but you’re going through something that’s causing you pain.”
He added: “Ant and Dec are popular beyond anybody’s imagination. Every person who comes to the show says, ‘Can we meet Ant and Dec?,’ and they’re so generous with their time.”
Elsewhere, David has been looking to the brighter side of filming Britain’s Got Talent this year.
He said: “It’s been fun, it’s been harmonious and there’s been lots of brilliant talent, which is important. There have been lots of eccentric people, lots of proper variety, brilliant magicians and comedians.
“I’m pleased because there are lots of other singing shows and we do have brilliant singers on this show but I’m just pleased to see all the variety. It’s tough actually, because one year we might have just one or two great magicians but it feels like we’ve got about ten this year and the same with comics. So, it’s going to be interesting.”
David said of the live shows later in the year: “I want some surprises along the way. I think it’s interesting because when you have a great magician or comic, you don’t know what they’re going to do next. You don’t know if you’ve already seen the best of them or if there’s more to come, so that will be interesting.”
Britain’s Got Talent airs on Saturday 14th April, 8pm on ITV.
