Matt Lucas reveals he and David Walliams are ‘brainstorming’ a new show

By Connie Evans, PA Entertainment Reporter

Matt Lucas has revealed he and David Walliams are “brainstorming” a new show after the comedy partnership “quit” their long-standing TV commitments.

The pair found fame on sketch comedy shows Little Britain and Come Fly With Me, both of which they co-wrote and starred in.

Speaking on the The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on Radio 2, 48-year-old Lucas said: “So me and David Walliams have started writing together again, we just thought, it’s time, it’s time.

“So we’ve sort of quit our jobs and decided to do that.”

In November a leaked transcript seen by the Guardian suggested that former Britain’s Got Talent judge Walliams, 51, made derogatory remarks and sexually explicit comments about participants auditioning for the talent show at the London Palladium in January 2020.

Walliams later apologised for the “disrespectful comments”, adding that they were made as part of “private conversations” that were “never intended to be shared”.

Earlier this month it was announced that former Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli will replace Walliams on the judging panel as auditions kicked off in London.

Lucas told Ball: “We just started last week, we got together and started brainstorming. We’ve got an idea for a new show, and we need a few more brainstorming sessions, but we know what we want the show to be, what the concept of it is.”

In December, it was announced that Lucas had stepped down from his role as a presenter on The Great British Bake Off after presenting three series alongside fellow comedian and actor Noel Fielding.

He added: “We’re really excited about it, and it will be a show with us playing lots of characters. But we have to write the treatment for it and then we have to go and pitch it and see if anyone wants to make it!

“But if somebody wants to make it, we’ll be thrilled to do it.”

Lucas is also set to star in the upcoming film Wonka – a prequel to the much-loved Roald Dahl story – which follows a young Willy Wonka and how he first meets the Oompa-Loompas.

The film, for release in December, features a star-studded line-up including Timothee Chalamet, Olivia Colman and Rowan Atkinson.

Lucas said: “The Wonka movie is out in December, and of course I signed a contract where I can’t really talk too much about it. But it’s a musical and it’s Timothee Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka and there’s some great people in it.”

Lucas revealed he sings “a little bit” in the movie, and added: “It’s one of those huge films where you’re on it for five or sixth months, and you’re probably in it for seven minutes, like I was in (Tim Burton’s) Alice in Wonderland.”

The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show airs every weekday morning from 6.30am on BBC Radio 2.