David Walliams was once turned down by every member of Girls Aloud.

The 43-year-old comedian - who is reportedly undergoing a ''trial separation'' from his wife Lara Stone - asked music mogul Louis Walsh to try to set him up with either Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh or Nadine Coyle when the group first came onto the music scene in the early 2000s, but he was rejected.

Speaking on a Comic Relief edition of 'The Graham Norton Show' filmed before reports of his split emerged, David, who was sat alongside Cheryl on the programme, said: ''When Girls Aloud came along I met Louis Walsh and asked him if any of the girls were single and he said he would ask.

''I thought he would do that discreetly, but he called a meeting of all of them and asked, 'Do any of you want to go out with David Walliams?' It was a no. And that was the end of that.''

David - who has 21-month-old son Alfred with Lara - has put a brave face on his split today (05.03.15) as he immersed himself in work, visiting a number of schools across the country in a helicopter for his Walliams Whirlwind tour to talk about World Book Day.

He wrote on Twitter this morning: ''It's finally here, @WorldBookDayUK & the #WalliamsWhirlwind is about to begin! First stop in my helicopter this morning is Great Missenden. (sic)''

David also posed for a picture in the helicopter looking happy with his thumbs up and was clearly still wearing his wedding ring in the image.

The star's tour has seen him visit schools up and down England, in Bristol, south west England, and Newcastle, north east England, as well as Cardiff in Wales.

The 'Britain's Got Talent' judge - who has written a number of children's books - took to the social networking site yesterday (04.03.15) for the first time since reports emerged of his split to reassure fans he would still be going on his Walliams Whirlwind tour.

He tweeted: ''The #WalliamsWhirlwind helicopter tour of schools for @WorldBookDayUK tomorrow will go ahead as planned so not to disappoint my young fans. (sic)''

It is thought Lara moved out of their North London home with their son Alfred and dog Bert after the couple - who tied the knot in 2010 - experienced problems for several months.