Alex is one of multiple women who allege Walliams abused his power and position as a celebrity to prey on them for sexual purposes when they were teenagers or young women, an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News has found. Some, like Alex, say their interactions with Walliams were traumatising and have requested that pseudonyms be used to protect their anonymity.

Most say they were over 18 when they had interactions with Walliams. But a woman whom the Guardian is calling Jade alleges that, like Alex, she met him when she was 15. She says that weeks after he first made contact, he invited her to his house and initiated sexual contact.

The allegations extended to his conduct in the workplace, with several sources describing inappropriate behaviour towards women at both the prime-time show Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) and his publisher HarperCollins.

In September, HarperCollins announced it would no longer publish Walliams’ extensive back catalogue, having dropped its bestselling author last year. Few reasons were given for the seismic move. The Guardian and ITV News can now reveal that the publisher severed ties with the star author after concerns were raised about his behaviour over several years, including an allegation that he had inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior female employee and pursued another.

Walliams denies any wrongdoing. Earlier this year his lawyers took a case to the high court to try to stop the allegations being published. The case was dismissed, so now the women’s stories can be revealed.

In a letter addressed to journalists working on this investigation, Walliams wrote: “Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with.

“I realise I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account. That is something I regret. And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something that I never did.”

He added: “I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”

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Back in 2004, Walliams was at the beginning of his journey to success. His big break had been Little Britain, the provocative sketch show he created for BBC Radio 4 with his comedy partner, Matt Lucas. The show, which later moved to television, featured now infamous characters including the perma-tracksuited Vicky Pollard and the interdependent duo Lou and Andy. In December 2004, it won the top accolade at the British Comedy Awards.

At the awards ceremony, Walliams was captured on film dressed in a black dinner jacket, seemingly utterly relaxed and enjoying himself. He threw his head back in laughter as the compere, the TV chatshow host Jonathan Ross, opened the show with a joke pointedly referencing him: “The comedy awards is 15 years old – 15 years old! And like most 15-year-olds, it’s drunk, it’s unpredictable and it’s probably going home with David Walliams.”

Ross, responding through lawyers, said he did not write the joke himself.