Gregg Wallace has apologised for controversial comments he made over the weekend about the women accusing him of misconduct being “middle class women of a certain age”.
On Thursday (November 28), it was announced that the presenter was stepping down from MasterChef after a series of complaints were made to the BBC.
The allegations included a pattern of inappropriate sexual comments and actions made by Wallace to 13 people who worked with him over a period of 17 years, with the corporation passing the allegations onto Wallace’s representatives shortly before they were made public.
Wallace’s lawyers said it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
Wallace posted a video addressing the allegations, in which he said he has worked with more than 4,000 contestants throughout his career “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,” Wallace says, adding, “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.”
Then, in a second video, he goes on to say: “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?”
Following widespread backlash, Wallace has now apologised. In a follow-up video posted to his Instagram story, he said: “I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.
Gregg Wallace. Credit: David M Benett/Getty
“I wasn’t in a good head space when I posted it I’ve been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion. I felt very alone, under siege yesterday when I posted it. It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out now while this investigation is under way. I hope you understand and I do hope you accept this apology.”
A day after the initial reports, more women came forward with further allegations, with one claiming that Wallace regularly talked inappropriately about sex, domination and spanking while working on the Channel 5 show Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends in 2019.
Then, yesterday (November 30) it was reported that the BBC was made aware of allegations against the presenter in a letter sent in 2022, but no further investigation took place. The letter in question outlined a “pattern of behaviour” which “clearly fails to meet the sexual harassment and bullying standards that prohibit ‘unwelcome sexual advances and sexual innuendo’.”
Dawn Elrick, a TV director and producer, sent the letter on behalf of the women who had been in touch with her, and she says the was told by the corporation that individuals would have to make their own separate complaints.
“This is very tricky for freelancers to do without identifying themselves, which makes life extremely tricky in the freelance world,” she said. “Placing the onus on individual employees/freelancers means they failed to see that I was trying to tell them there was a pattern of alleged behaviour.”
Elrick claims the fact that no action was taken as a result of the letter shows that there is “no satisfactory means of reporting sexual harassment and bullying within the TV industry”.
The BBC told the Observer: “If issues are raised with us we have robust processes in place to deal with them swiftly and appropriately. We will always listen if people want to make us aware of something directly. It would be inappropriate for us to comment on anything that could form part of [MasterChef production company] Banijay’s ongoing investigation or otherwise influence it.”
Other claims against Wallace include comments about colleagues’ sexual orientation, their partners and coming out of a bathroom topless during a shoot.
Rod Stewart has called Wallace a “tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully” and alleged that he “humiliated my wife when she was on the show [Celebrity MasterChef], but you had that bit cut out didn’t you?” Penny Lancaster, Stewart’s wife, appeared on the celebrity spin-off of MasterChef in 2021.
Wallace has not responded to Stewart’s claims.
For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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