David Walliams's ex wife's rare insight into 'terrifying' ordeal during five-year marriage

David Walliams' ex-wife once admitted how "terrifying" she found the public interest in their marriage. The former panellist and Lara Stone were wed for five years between 2010 and 2015.

It's understood the Dutch model met David, 13 years her senior, at a football match in 2009. After reportedly hitting it off, the pair went on a first date which Lara, now 40, was "very nervous" about, according to .

Jitters were soon put to bed due to their instant connection and the "very mean sense of humour" they shared. After a year of dating, the pair announced their engagement and tied the knot just four months later at the swanky Claridge's Hotel in London.

As per , Lara wore a wedding gown designed by friend and former Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci and opted to toast her May 2010 marriage to David, now 53, with popcorn rather than a traditional Champagne flute. After celebrating their nuptials with guests Tom Ford, and , the pair led their entourage to Shoreditch House for their evening wedding reception.

In May 2013, the married couple welcomed their only child, a son called Alfred. Following Alfred's birth both parents have tried to keep him out of the limelight but in June 2024, David admitted the day he was born was the "happiest" of his life.

Appearing on , the father-of-one said: "I think back to the day he was born. And I always say to him, 'The day you were born was the happiest day of my life, and every day after that has got happier and happier'.

"You have the odd bad day, don't you, but basically it's that, because you get closer and closer and he did the sweetest thing."

Two years after welcoming Alfred, Lara and the ITV star split. At the time, a source told The Sun that the favourite "didn't want a divorce" and that he hoped to "work things out" with his spouse.

"But Lara was insistent and David accepted for the sake of Alfred. It was easier for David to divorce Lara and claim it was her unreasonable behaviour. She was willing to accept that as the reason."

Years later, the Prada runway alumna offered a rare insight into her and her ex-husband's - confessing to Dutch Vogue that she believed the attention was "bewildering".

"I'd been at his house and was walking back to the Tube and this car was driving next to me and they were taking pictures the whole time," she recounted to the publication. "It was just so bewildering and terrifying."

Since splitting from the beloved children's author in 2015, the Calvin Klein model , a property developer.

The pair initially met on Tinder and tied the knot in a private ceremony in July 2021.

Lara announced she had become a wife for the second time via Instagram, writing: "Got to marry my love this weekend!"

David has kept his love life under wraps since his split from Lara but has previously admitted he has a "pathological fear" of being on his own.

Appearing on a 2009 episode of Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, he said: "When I am with my own thoughts, I start to unravel and I start to think really dark, self-destructive thoughts."

Catch David Walliams, Angela Scanlon and more on tonight's episode of Michael McIntyre's The Wheel on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 8.20pm.