Things got a little awkward on The One Show when David Walliams dropped a cheeky joke about Prime Minister Keir Starmer that seemed to catch the hosts off guard. David was on the show alongside his Little Britain co-star Matt Lucas and former EastEnders actress Lindsey Coulson, chatting with presenters Alex Jones and Clara Amfo about their latest projects. But when the conversation shifted to school days—prompted by Lindsey’s role in Waterloo Road—David couldn’t resist throwing in a gag that left the room a little tense.
“I was at school with Keir Starmer, yeah,” he quipped. “And he gave me a detention, and it was Christmas time and it was really cold, and he turned off the heating.” The joke landed with a bit of an awkward silence, as Alex seemed momentarily unsure how to respond. Sensing the shift in the room, David quickly backtracked, clarifying, “I did go to the same school as Keir Starmer, but actually, we didn’t meet each other.”
Not stopping there, he kept the jokes coming, throwing in another wild claim: “And Fatboy Slim was there too. Yeah, he was, yeah! He was doing the DJing and Keir was being the Prime Minister, I was acting the giddy goat!” Trying to move things along, Alex swiftly changed the topic to the EastEnders 40th anniversary, but viewers had already clocked the uncomfortable moment and wasted no time sharing their thoughts online.
“Loved David’s dig at Keir Starmer. He’s clearly far too outspoken for the BBC. He’s probably next to be cancelled,” one viewer posted, as reported by Wales Online. Another fan tweeted: “Watching the presenters on #TheOneShow totally not getting @davidwalliams making a joke about going to school with Keir Starmer, giving them a detention and turning the heating off. Don’t know which was funnier.”
A third simply added: “That was pure chaos lol.”
David’s quip seemed to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Labour government’s decision to slash winter fuel payments for most pensioners. Last year, as Britain faced a harsh winter, Starmer defended the controversial move, insisting Labour had to make unpopular decisions to fix the economic mess left by the previous government.
Whether or not the audience caught the political reference, David’s signature mischief was on full display—and left The One Show hosts scrambling to keep things on track.
