Former BBC producer says industry culture shift needed amid Gregg Wallace claims
It comes after it was announced Gregg Wallace will step away from hosting MasterChef while historical misconduct complaints are externally reviewed.
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Your support makes all the difference.A former senior BBC TV producer has said the media industry needs to create a culture where āeverybody says itās just not acceptable to make people feel uncomfortableā after a host of allegations have been made against TV presenter Gregg Wallace.
The 60-year-old faces accusations of inappropriate sexual comments from 13 people across a range of shows over a 17-year period, as reported by BBC News.
The allegations come after it was announced on Thursday that Wallace will step away from hosting hit BBC cooking show MasterChef while historical misconduct complaints are externally reviewed by the showās production company, Banijay UK.
Lorraine Heggessey, the first female controller of BBC One, told BBC Breakfast: āThis is the latest in a long line of presenters behaving badly and making particularly junior staff on a production feel really uncomfortable about what theyāre saying or doing, and we need to, as an industry, draw a line.
āItās not just a BBC problem, I think itās an industry-wide problem.ā
Among the BBC News complainants is former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, who alleged Wallace told jokes of a āsexualised natureā when she was competing on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011.
BBC News said it had been told of other allegations, including the presenter ātalking openly about his sex life, taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to āgive her a fashion showā, and telling a junior female colleague he was not wearing any boxer shorts under his jeansā.
The TV starās lawyers say āit is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing natureā, BBC News reported.
Ms Heggessey said an issue within the industry is that there is a lot of ājob insecurityā which can make it difficult for production staff to raise concerns.
āAt the moment, more than ever, almost everybody who works on a production is freelance, and itās very difficult to put your head above the parapetā, she added.
āBut what I would say is that a lot of men feel uncomfortable about this behaviour as well, and itās time for men to start speaking out about it too, rather than always relying on the women to come forward because itās hard.
āIt is very hard for a junior person, woman or otherwise, to say these kind of things. And we need to create a culture in the industry where everybody says itās just not acceptable to make people feel uncomfortable in any way when theyāre working on a production.ā
What can happen is that people pander to the so-called stars and they're allowed to get away with all sorts of things that you just wouldn't allow a junior assistant producer on the show to do
The former TV producer noted this is an issues across āall industriesā but as TV presenters can become household names it draws more attention to the situation.
Ms Heggessey also referenced how the BBC director-general has previously said he has ākind of bannedā referring to top staff at the corporation as ātalentā following controversies surrounding its high-profile presenters.
After apologising to BBC Breakfast host Charlie Stayt, she added: āSorry to say that to you but you are just one of a large team of people who are responsible for getting a show on air, and your work is neither more valuable nor less valuable than anybody elseās.
āWhereas what can happen is that people pander to the so-called stars and theyāre allowed to get away with all sorts of things that you just wouldnāt allow a junior assistant producer on the show to do.ā
Wallace is best known for co-presenting MasterChef alongside John Torode since 2005, as well as its spin-offs Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals.