'It was only scaling a rock face, but Lara got really upset': David Walliams' wife bans him from another Sport Relief challenge

By Andrea Magrath


Putting her foot down: David Walliams has revealed that his supermodel wife Lara Stone has banned him from any more Sport Relief challenges

She was pictured fighting back tears as she stood at the edge of the Thames last September to welcome her husband back after a gruelling eight-day charity swim.

But Lara Stone, 28, has put her foot down this year, banning David Walliams from taking on any more challenges following last year's swim in aid of Sport Relief.

The Britain's Got Talent judge has revealed that Lara became upset when he told her of plans for a new adventure, given that he is still suffering from injuries and illness he obtained during the Thames swim, he told the Radio Times.

Concern: The model, 26, was pictured in tears as she watched her husband complete his 140-mile swim of the Thames last September

The 40-year-old Little Britain star suffered the parasitic infection giardiasis and still undergoes physiotherapy after injuring a disc in his back during his eight-day charity swim in September last year.

Walliams, who married supermodel Stone in 2010, revealed that he wanted to meet up with his friend, adventurer Bear Grylls during a trip the couple took to New York shortly after the swim, to discuss a new endeavour.

He said: 'It was only scaling a rock face, but Lara got really upset and said no.'

The former Little Britain star told the magazine that his giardiasis, caused by a water-borne parasite, flared up and he had to cancel the meeting anyway.


Relief: In a new documentary, David Walliams' Big Swim, Stone is filmed telling her husband that he will never do anything so dangerous again

Achievement: The swim raised over £1.1million for Sport Relief

The Dutch model spent hours cheering her husband on from a support boat alongside him.

'I didn’t like to see her upset, but it was great having her support. She actually had her driving test on the day I got ill, so she heard it on the radio and was doubly upset she hadn’t been there to look after me,' he told the magazine. 'But she passed – first time. I passed third time, so she holds that over me.'

In an interview that took place during his swim last year, Lara admitted that she'd tried to talk her husband out of the challenge, 'But anyone who has ever met David knows it was not option,' she said.

'He loves doing these things and he wants to do it for all the little kids he met in Kenya when he went there. He absolutely fell in love with them, so I didn't want to talk him out of it anymore.'


Day job: The funnyman tweeted a picture from the set of filming a Britain's Got Talent promo this week

In between his injured disc and the parasite infection, the funnyman was also forced to shelve plans to swim in just trunks when the water temperature was three degrees lower than expected.


'I thought people would think it was too easy if I wore a wetsuit. It’s one man, swimming trunks, hat, goggles – I thought that would be more impactful.' But despite being disappointed, David adds: 'Cold water is just not a very safe environment to be in.'

Of his illness, he adds: 'In retrospect it was good it happened – I think it made more people interested because suddenly there was jeopardy. A sense that ‘he might not make it’. And more and more people came out to see me.'

David's 140-mile swim raised over £1.1million for Sport Relief, following his previous challenges of cycling the length of the UK in 2010, swimming the Strait of Gibraltar in 2008 and swimming the English Channel in 2006.

And while he may not be jumping back in the water any time soon, the comic is promoting his documentary, David Walliams’ Big Swim, in between shooting Britain's Got Talent, the sales of which will also go towards Sport Relief.




source:dailymail