Gregg Wallace latest: ‘We are all different’ says Masterchef host after fresh allegations

MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has said accusations about him making sexual comments towards staff and guests have come from “middle-class women of a certain age”.

Speaking in a video posted on his Instagram page, the 60-year-old said: “I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years, amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef, and I think, in that time, I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life.

“Apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time.

“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.

“In 20 years, over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks, or sexual innuendo? Can you imagine?”

Further accusations have been made against TV presenter Gregg Wallace in the wake of him stepping away from hosting hit BBC show MasterChef while a review into complaints is carried out.

On Thursday, the cooking programme’s production company Banijay UK said the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to “historical allegations of misconduct” while working with Wallace.

He is “committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”, the company also said.

There were reports on Friday evening in news outlets such as The Sun newspaper about other alleged behaviour by Wallace.

Banijay UK confirmed on Saturday it had appointed law firm Lewis Silkin to lead an investigation into Wallace’s alleged behaviour.

Gregg Wallace has shared another cryptic Instagram post in the wake of allegations against himself.

The former Masterchef host took to social media to share a picture of what appeared to be grey stone with simple message: “We are all different.”

Earlier, he shared an Instagram story of a gingerbread man, with the caption: “Enjoy your weekend.”

Wallace has stepped down from MasterChef amid allegations of inappropriate sexual comments from 13 people who worked with him across a range of shows over a 17-year period.

Among those alleging misconduct is former Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark, who 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.

Wallace 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”.

Gregg Wallace was always an unlikely TV star. Prematurely bald, stout, and the proud wearer of thick glasses, he seemed destined for an unglamorous life amid the vegetable stalls of the capital, rather than on TV screens across the country.

And yet, the presenter, who today has stepped back from his role as a judge on MasterChef after a series of historic sexual misconduct allegations came to light, has made himself part of the furniture at the BBC.

And that makes his rapid fall from grace even more troubling for the corporation, though Wallace’s lawyers say it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.

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Mr Wallace, 60, is best known for co-presenting MasterChef alongside John Torode since 2005, as well as its spin-offs Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals.

He was the original presenter of the BBC show Saturday Kitchen in 2002 and has also featured on Eat Well For Less, Inside The Factory, Turn Back Time, Harvest, and Supermarket Secrets.

He was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022 for his services to food and charity. Mr Wallace took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 and was partnered with Aliona Vilani.

He has two children, Tom and Libby, from a former relationship. He married Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2016 and the couple have a son called Sid.

Presenter Gregg Wallace has been dropped from an autism charity in the wake of allegations that he made inappropriate comments to colleagues.

He was announced as an ambassador to Ambitious about Autism after his son Sid, four, was diagnosed with the condition.

An Ambitious about Autism spokesperson said: “In light of recent allegations, we are no longer working with Gregg Wallace.

“We have let him know our decision and thanked him for his support of our work over the last two years.”

The scenes, from Celebrity MasterChef in 2011, have resurfaced after Ms Wark claimed Mr Wallace told “sexualised” jokes during filming for the show.