David Walliams recalls son Alfred, 10, meeting ‘inspirational’ Tom Cruise and joked the youngster ‘didn’t need a dad anymore’ following his exchange with the Hollywood A-Lister

David Walliams joked that his son Alfred ‘didn’t need a dad anymore’ after the youngster’s recent meeting with Hollywood A-Lister Tom Cruise.

The Little Britain actor, 52, who shares the 10-year-old with ex-wife Lara Stone, spoke about the exchange with the action star, 60, during his appearance on ITV’s The Jonathan Ross Show.

Saying to the host, “I saw (Tom) a week ago. I went to college with Simon Pegg, who stars in the movie Mission Impossible. He invited me and my son Alfred, who is ten.’

‘We met Tom and Tom gave my son a very inspiring speech. For about half an hour I thought he didn’t need a father anymore.’

Before adding: ‘He gave the most amazing speech. He was very generous with his time and very, very sweet.”

Last year, David shared a photo with Tom as they celebrated Sir Michael Caine’s 90th birthday at a dinner in London, with unlikely guests including Denise Welch from Loose Women.

During his recent chat show appearance, David spoke about what inspires him ahead of the release of his new book Astro Chimp: ‘Luckily my son is ten so he’s just the right age to be reading mine.

‘We take long walks together, walk the dogs and he often comes up with ideas. He came up with this idea, mega monster – I wrote the book and now he says you have to give me 50% of the royalties. I said you’ll get it one day!’

He also spoke about his upcoming project and teased about reuniting with his former comedy partner, saying: ‘Me and Matt Lucas are working together on a new show.’

David previously revealed why he wants to keep his young son out of the spotlight, choosing to only share photos with the youngster’s face hidden.

Although David and Dutch model Lara, whom he split from in 2015, both have high-profile careers, they came to the decision that they want Alfred to be able to grow up like other children.

Speak with HELLO! Magazine, David said: ‘I knew what I was getting into, this is what I signed up for. Making a television program and being in the spotlight is inevitable and as a child that must be quite difficult.’

Then he says, “You don’t know what they want to do with their lives. Maybe they choose to do something completely private, but in that case there doesn’t seem to be any benefit to being in the spotlight.”

The Little Britain duo also confirmed they had completely buried the hatchet when they posed together at their mutual friend actor Luke Evans’ 40th birthday party in April 2019.

Between 2011 and 2018 – when they both attended Dale Winton’s funeral – neither star was seen together in public.

Matt released his autobiography Little Me: The AZ Of Matt Lucas in 2018, exposing their explosive backstage battles and the manic performances that made them, in short, the country’s most celebrated comedy duo.

In the tome he snarls: ‘Walliams has now sold so many children’s books that he could probably buy his own private jet, all in pink, with a river in it that he can swim up’ – a swipe at the fame Walliams achieved when he swam it Canal and later the length of the Thames.

In his autobiography, Matt revealed how tensions ran high between the pair during their Little Britain Live tour in 2005, leading to a spectacular backstage fight.

David and Matt first met at The National Youth Theater and broke into the comedy scene in 2003 with the sketch series Little Britain.

The series created iconic characters such as Andy and Lou (with the slogan ‘I don’t like it’), Vicky Pollard (‘Yes but no yes but no but’) and Carol Beer (‘Computer says no’).

After three series the show ended in 2005, but led to an American spin-off three years later and numerous one-off specials for Comic and Sport Relief.

David previously spoke about their differences when promoting his own autobiography, Camp David, in 2012. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Mark Lawson, he admitted: ‘We’re very different people and probably want different things and had different working methods.’

THE JONATHAN ROSS SHOW, SATURDAY AT 9.35PM ON ITV1 AND ITVX