Gregg Wallace live: Allegations ‘tip of the iceberg’, ex-MasterChef star claims after ‘middle class women’ jibe
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.Allegations against Gregg Wallace are merely the “tip of the iceberg” in what was a “really quite toxic environment” at MasterChef, a former contestant has claimed.
The presenter left the BBC programme on Thursday (28 November) after claims were made by 13 people that he made a number of inappropriate sexual comments.
In a video posted on his Instagram page, the 60-year-old said: “I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right.”
Following a widespread backlash to those remarks, a former MasterChef contestant alleged that he had been so horrified by the widespread “abuse” of contestants on the show that he considered quitting on his first day – but was too scared to speak out after signing a non-disclosure agreement.
“There was a systemic problem that was larger than just him, in my view. Gregg ... would occasionally crack jokes that in different ways felt inappropriate but he wasn’t the only one,” the anonymous former contestant told Sky News.
A BBC spokesperson said “any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated”.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall advises Gregg to ‘rein it in'
Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has advised Gregg Wallace to “rein it in” as the MasterChef host takes to social media to respond to claims of inappropriate behaviour against him.
In response to Wallace’s earlier claim that all complainants against him were “middle-class women of a certain age”, Fearnley-Whittingstall said the comments were “not wise”.
He told the BBC that he doesn’t know the fallen star well, but having met him a few times, called him “likeable and professional”.
He said: “I don’t think it’s smart to come out talking like that when at the moment he should probably be listening.”
Inside Gregg Wallace’s rocky love life with four wives as he exits MasterChef amid misconduct claims
Gregg Wallace will step away from presenting MasterChef while new complaints made by individuals about historical allegations of misconduct are investigated.
The presenter, 60, known for his colourful on-camera quips was previously accused of making sexually inappropriate comments to a female BBC colleague in 2018, and was forced to quit Inside the Factory over “inappropriate” remarks allegedly made to female staff last year, which he denies.
Wallace, who – among other complaints – has been accused by former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark of making jokes of a “sexualised nature” when she was competing on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011, has previously said he resents any insinuation he was “flirting” with someone who is not his wife Anna, 37.
Read the full report here:
Inside Gregg Wallace’s rocky love life with four wives as he leaves MasterChef
The presenter was once warned by a therapist he ‘picks women like cars’
Gregg not contracted for future series, production company confirms
The company that produces MasterChef, has confirmed Gregg Wallace is not contracted for future series as an investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour is carried out.
Production company Banijay UK told The Independent that Wallace is contracted on a series by series basis and is not set to be a part of future series while the investigation is ongoing.
Will upcoming MasterChef episodes featuring Gregg Wallace air as normal?
Upcoming episodes of MasterChef are expected to air on the BBC as planned after Gregg Wallace stepped down from his role as a host of the cooking show.
Future episodes of MasterChef: The Professionals are still slated to air on the broadcaster, while two Christmas specials are planned for the festive season.
A BBC spokesperson told The Independent: “Right now the plan is, if it’s already been recorded, it will go out.”
John Torode’s brutal Gregg Wallace comments dredged up in wake of allegations against Masterchef co-host
John Torode’s rare comments about Gregg Wallace are being dredged up in the wake of the allegations against his co-host.
In 2017, Torode made headlines after claiming that he had “never been friends” with Wallace.
He said in an interview with The Mirror: “It’s funny, we’ve never been friends. We’ve not been to each other’s houses. If we go away to somewhere like South Africa, we do things separately. If we do go out for a drink, I’ll invariably be at one end of a big old table and he’ll be at the other.”
However, Torode was best man during Wallace’s wedding to Anne-Maire Sterpini in 2016 and, despite his attempts to seemingly distance himself from his co-host, Wallace said on an episode of Lorraine that same year: “I film with John six or seven months of the year, so we are very close to each other physically, and emotionally we are very close to each other.
“What’s great about having a partnership is that if one of you is a bit off, a bit down, the other one naturally steps up, so I rely on John a lot.”
Watch: Sean Lock's assessment of Masterchef host Gregg Wallace
Comedians and journalists respond to Wallace’s ‘middle-class women of a certain age’ claims
A number of public figures have taken to social media today in the wake of Gregg Wallace’s claims that all of those who had made complaints against him were “‘middle-class women of a certain age”.
Radio presenter Julie Hartley-Brewer posted a meme accompanied by: “Spare a thought for Gregg Wallace’s PR agent waking up this morning,”
Meanwhile, comedian David Baddiel wrote: “It’s not often that the internet gets behind middle-class middle-aged women these days, but thanks to Gregg Wallace for making it happen.”
Kirstie Allsopp slams Wallace’s claim all complainants are ‘middle-class women of a certain age'
Kirstie Allsopp said she was angered by a video the 60-year-old MasterChef presenter posted on Instagram, in which he claimed the complaints against him were coming from a “handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.
The Location, Location, Location presenter added: “That is unacceptable. Because he is essentially saying this is a class issue and middle-class women don’t understand the type of things he says because he’s working-class. Well I’m sorry, but he’s doing a incredible disservice to men.
“What’s he saying? That working-class men do this kind of thing, embarrass their wives and girlfriends and sisters and mothers? That’s unacceptable, of course that’s not the case.
“I absolutely understand about banter. I’m a mother of sons – two stepsons, two sons. But there’s a huge difference between robust chat and the kind of comment Gregg Wallace made to me.”
Kirstie Allsopp ‘so embarrassed’ by Gregg Wallace sex remark
TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has said she was “so embarrassed” she thought she “might cry” after Gregg Wallace allegedly made a comment to her about his sex life.
Allsopp, 53, said the encounter took place several years ago in a performers’ lounge while she was filming a pilot for a TV quiz show alongside Wallace and his partner.
She told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend: “I’d been chatting to her, she left the room and he (Wallace) made a reference to something they did in bed.
“You know that feeling when you’re so embarrassed that you think you might cry. You just feel kind of internally scarlet. I had that feeling and I always remembered it.”
Masterchef producer claims ‘nothing was done’ after complaints made
The Sunday Times reported that BBC executive Kate Phillips raised concerns Wallace’s behaviour was “unacceptable and cannot continue”.
The intervention came after broadcaster and former Celebrity MasterChef contestant Aasmah Mir, complained about inappropriate comments during filming.
The newspaper claimed he received another warning the following year after a complaint was raised about his behaviour on the quiz show Impossible Celebrities.
The Sunday Telegraph reported producer Georgia Harding, who worked on MasterChef between 2014 and 2015 and later Eat Well For Less, claimed she raised concerns about “inappropriate” behaviour from him while working on the show.
She alleged the presenter undressed in front of colleagues and “made inappropriate sexual jokes” in front of the crew and people appearing on the shows, and said “nothing was done” about concerns raised, claiming there was “an acceptance” of his behaviour and “nothing was done”.
Harding also said he stood “too close” to contestants on set and “spoke about sex a lot and would get changed on set even though he had a changing room”.
An anonymous woman who appeared on Eat Well For Less also claimed that Wallace stood “too close” to her, made “inappropriate” sexual comments, and said Wallace asked why guests were not laughing at his jokes, and told them they should because he was the “talent”.