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David Walliams has revealed he was put in the “friend zone” after developing a crush on singer Natalie Imbruglia.
The star, who rose to fame with Little Britain before becoming a children’s author, was often seen out with the singer following his divorce from wife Lara Stone in 2015.
However, Walliams admitted that while he fell “like a ton of bricks” for Imbruglia and met up with her in the mid-2010s, the pair never dated.
Walliams, who was born Williams but changed his stage name for distinction, has now opened up for the first time about his unrequited crush.
“She’s very much friend-zoned me,” the 53-year-old said on Australian radio show Fitzy and Wippa.
“You know when that happens, that you have a huge crush on someone and you sort of imagine being married and what your kids look like and all that sort of thing? And you’re just completely friend-zoned.”
He said that Imbruglia considered him more of a “gay best friend”. Walliams himself is straight but performs campy humour alongside his professional partner Matt Lucas, who is himself gay.
Australian singer Imbruglia has released three albums, all of which charted well in the UK, and is best known for her 1997 hit Torn. She was married to Australian rockstar Daniel Johns from 2003 to 2008.
Walliams said that she could probably “do a lot better” than him.
He added: “We didn’t go on any dates. We just became very good friends and we hung out together.
“But you know, it’s hard not to kind of fall for her like a ton of bricks because she is amazing. I think I’m seen as the sort of gay best friend by a lot of people.”
Walliams was also a judge on Britain’s Got Talent but left in 2023 after making disparaging, expletive-ridden remarks about an elderly contestant and a young woman.
