Gregg Wallace latest: Charlotte Crosby claims MasterChef host was ‘extremely unpleasant’ after misconduct claims
Host faces allegations of making inappropriate sexual comments from 13 people over a 17-year period
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Your support makes all the difference.MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has thanked fans for “showing support” after he stepped down from the show following allegations he made inappropriate sexual comments over multiple years.
Wallace left the BBC programme on Thursday (28 November) amid claims made by 13 people who worked with him on shows over a 17-year period.
Among those alleging misconduct is former BBC Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark, who claimed Wallace told “sexualised” jokes during filming of a Celebrity Masterchef episode in 2011.
Ulrika Jonsson has also accused Wallace of making a “rape joke” while filming a 2017 episode of Celebrity MasterChef, which she said left one of her fellow contestants “really distressed”, and Geordie Shore’s Charlotte Crosby said Wallace was “extremely unpleasant” during the series she was on.
Meanwhile, Sir Rod Stewart has accused the host of “humiliating” his wife, Penny Lancaster, when she appeared on the celebrity version of the show in 2021.
Wallace, 60, allegedly also talked openly about his sex life and once told a junior female colleague he wasn’t wearing any underwear under his jeans, according to the BBC News investigation.
The Independent has contacted Wallace’s representatives for comment. A BBC spokesperson said “any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated”.
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Wallace made ‘sexualised jokes’, Kirsty Wark claims
Former BBC Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark has claimed Mr Wallace told “sexualised” jokes during filming of a Celebrity Masterchef episode in 2011.
“There were two occasions in particular where he used sexualised language in front of a number of people and it wasn’t as if anyone engaged with this,” she said.
“It was completely one-way traffic. But I think people were uncomfortable and something that I really did not expect to happen.”
Rod Stewart brands Gregg Wallace ‘ill-mannered bully'
Sir Rod Stewart has accused Masterchef host Gregg Wallace of humiliating his wife after she was reduced to tears on his show three years ago.
Sir Rod branded Mr Wallace, 60, a “tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully” following Penny Lancaster’s appearance on an episode in which the celebrity chef refused to eat her food in 2021.
Writing on Instagram, Sir Rod said: “So Gregg Wallace gets fired from Masterchef. Good riddance Wallace.
“You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you?
“You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya. Sir Rod Stewart.”