DAVID Walliams admitted that he will miss his £1.5 million Britain's Got Talent cheque after the 2021 series of the show was cancelled.
The 49-year-old star did not try to hide his true feelings about the blow during an appearance on Lorraine earlier today.
The comments come just months after The Sun revealed that the ITV talent show was embroiled in a furious gender pay gap row as it emerged that David and Simon Cowell were paid more than double Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon's salaries.
Speaking to David on today's show, Lorraine Kelly asked: "There's no Britain's Got Talent, are you going to miss it? Are you going to miss your Simon?
David replied: "I'm going to miss the money!"
He chuckled before adding: "I'm definitely going to miss the show, it's a shame but I understand the reasons.
"We can't do the show as usual, we need the audience.
"It is a shame but we will be back bigger and better next year!"
In October, The Sun revealed that Amanda and Alesha were unhappy after ITV sources told them that their male counterparts were on considerably larger pay deals – despite doing exactly the same job.
Amanda was on £700,000, Alesha £450,000, David on £1.5 million, and Simon £2.5 million.
Simon was said to be unaware of the huge discrepancy and fought for them to get bumper pay rises after the news broke.
Meanwhile, the final decision to pull the plug on this year's BGT was made last month, after bosses struggled to make it work amid the coronavirus pandemic.
However, insiders are hopeful that the programme could return as normal next year.
They told us: "It’s been a hard decision for everyone who works on Britain’s Got Talent to make the decision to push it back.
“They had mulled over the idea of having filming take place in September but it was all too up in the air.
“Ultimately the safety of the stars and all the contestants was the priority for show bosses.
“Everyone is gutted but they know BGT will be back next year, bigger and better than ever.”
Last year's series was previously thrown into chaos due to the pandemic, with the show being forced off air for several months – and Ashley Banjo had to step in for Simon when filming resumed in the autumn.
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