Holby City actor Jeremy Edwards has said that he’s been “haunted for years” by David Walliams pulling down his trousers and underwear on stage, claiming that he did not consent to the “sexually humiliating” incident.

On Tuesday (10 November), Little Britain star Walliams was accused of sexual misconduct and grooming teenage girls as young as 15 in an investigation by The Guardian and ITV News. Walliams denies any wrongdoing.

Following the allegations made against Walliams, actor Edwards has spoken out about his experience with the comedian after being invited on stage at Little Britain Live in 2006 as part of a sketch for Comic Relief.

During the show, Walliams – in character as predatory former children’s presenter Des Kaye – asks to play a game of “where’s the sausage” with Edwards before yanking his jeans and underwear down. Edwards is then seen on the floor, having pulled up his underwear and trying to pull his jeans up as Walliams crouches over him, stopping him from doing so.

Walliams then climbs on top of him in the video, which features on the Little Britain Live DVD, and begins humping Edwards.

Speaking about the moment 20 years on, Edwards told The Daily Mail that he was asked to take part in the sketch on the day after Blue singer Duncan pulled out. He was allegedly told that Walliams would try to pull his trousers down, but he wasn’t aware that he would expose his genitals.

“I bent down to pull my trousers up and when I did that he knocked me over while I was off balance,” he claimed. “Then he mounted me and sexually humiliated me. I was sexually humiliated. It got a massive laugh.

“I couldn’t get him off. I’m 6ft 2ins but he’s a big guy and very strong. I ended up tapping out like a wrestler. I was saying, ‘Get off me. Get off me.’ I got up and pulled my trousers up.”

Edwards said that he’s been “haunted” by the moment for years. “It simply was abuse. I did not agree to it. You just can’t do that to people,” he said.

“Having your trousers pulled down and you’re stood there in your boxer shorts is one thing. Having your penis exposed is something very different. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I’m angry because why did they think that would be OK with me?”

“What we are talking about here is consent and I didn’t consent to it. In reality I went down, flip bang. It’s all on video – bang to rights. If I had known I was going to have my genitals exposed in front of all those people then put on a DVD which has sold millions of copies and then for it for now to be on the internet for the rest of my life I wouldn’t have done it for a million years.”

Edwards said that he has now decided to speak out about the moment as he previously believed that Walliams pulling down his underwear had been an accident. However, years later, he was shown videos of him doing the same sketch with members of the public on tour and pulling down their underwear.

A video of Walliams pulling down the trousers and pants of a 16-year-old resurfaced in 2020, with a teenage member of the public seen struggling to hide his genitals after the incident.

“It’s only recently that I have seen footage of previous shows that I realised that was always the plan,” Edwards said. “It wasn’t an accident that my pants got pulled down. I feel stupid that I felt I couldn’t say anything. I can only imagine that for members of the public that must be magnified ten fold.”

The Independent has contacted Walliams for comment.

Walliams, who Edwards claimed has never apologised, addressed the moment in 2011 during an interview with The Sun’s magazine Buzz and said that it was an accident.

“I played it with Holby City actor Jeremy Edwards and pulled down his trousers. His pants came down at the same time, which was a mistake,” he said. “It’s a very easy mistake to make! But I did expose him to thousands of people at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. I did feel bad about it afterwards. But not that bad.”

On Friday (13 November), the Metropolitan Police announced that they had launched an investigation into Walliams after receiving a number of allegations of “non-recent serious sexual offences” against him.

“In recent days, the Met has received a number of allegations of non-recent serious sexual offences involving a man now in his fifties,” the force said in a statement. “Those who have come forward are being supported by specialist officers.

“The allegations are separate from those reported by ITN and The Guardian. However, as part of their investigation, detectives are also proactively reviewing that reporting to establish whether there is any evidence of offences.”