Best of 2024: David Walliams' surprise visit with Mike Hosking

Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking might just be David Walliams’ biggest fan — and he couldn’t believe it when the comedian surprised him in the studio this morning. 

Walliams, who is in Auckland for his An Audience with David Walliams tour, sneaked into the Newstalk ZB studio on Friday before his first show, catching Hosking unawares while singing (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life from Dirty Dancing. 

When he spotted Walliams, the broadcaster was gobsmacked. “No fricking way, how exciting is that! This is magnificent.” 

“Hello mate, I’ve missed you. I worry about you in those tight jeans, a man of your age,” Walliams joked. 

Walliams met Hosking and his wife, Kate Hawkesby, in London last year, joking with the radio host, “I remember Kate, but not you ... still married?” 

He revealed the surprise had been in the works for some time “because you have a really huge crush on me, and it would be exciting for you”. 

“Yes, I do,” Hosking confirmed. 

When asked how the tour was going so far, Walliams said his shows in Australia had been “fantastic”. 

“I’ve been so popular in Auckland that we added this show tonight,” he said. 

David Walliams paid a surprise visit to the Newstalk ZB studio. Photo / Michael Craig

“I’ve got my funny stories that I’ve thought about what they are and I’m telling them ... but at the same time, the audiences have been so great in Australia, and I’m sure they’ll be even better in New Zealand, they sort of give you permission to kind of push it further and further and just be spontaneous,” the comedian told Hosking. 

“It’s really restored my faith in performing comedy. Like, oh yeah, when we all get together in a room, what we really want is a laugh and it’s spontaneous, I’ve been saying some pretty rude things.” 

Hosking confessed spontaneity was Hawkesby’s worry because she didn’t want to be embarrassed from their front-row seats. 

Walliams jokingly replied that shouldn’t be an issue for the radio host. “You look like the kind of man that’d like attention.” 

“No, I don’t want to be part of it, I just want to enjoy your talent,” Hosking responded. 

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