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The Manc The Manc - 27th April 2020
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MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has stepped away amid misconduct investigation

Danny Jones Danny Jones Gregg Wallace steps down from MasterChef after misconduct allegations

MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has officially stepped away from his role on the show following recent reports surrounding allegations of misconduct.

A new series of complaints regarding Wallace’s historical behaviour have now been made to the BBC, with the 60-year-old having only just denied claims he made “sexual” comments to a younger female colleague back in 2018 a month ago.

While that particular instance is alleged to have taken place while on the set of Impossible Celebrities, with one woman accusing the household name of removing his shirt and openly boasting about his sex life, this decision comes after a number of other historical incidents were flagged.

It is said that 13 different people – one of those being fellow veteran BBC presenter, Kirsty Wark – have complained about inappropriate sexual comments on various projects across a 17-year period.

Wallace will now leave the popular cooking show after the best of two decades alongside co-presenter John Torrode, having joined the show all the way back in 2005.

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Issuing an official statement following his departure, the show’s production company Banijay UK told PA (Press Association) news agency: “This week the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with presenter Gregg Wallace on one of our shows.

“Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show [MasterChef] producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate.”

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BBC veteran Wark, 69, told the corporation that he made a number of remarks that were of a “sexualised nature” in front of contestants and crew during a season of Celebrity MasterChef back in 2011, strongly insisting that she fell the comments were “really, really in the wrong place”.

The Peckham-born TV personality has now been “stepped away” from the job while a full investigation is carried out, with Banijay assuring that their “duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions.”

The company have assured that while the issues weren’t initially raised at the time they were said to have occurred, they are now being taken very seriously, as well as urging others to come forward with any issues or concerns.

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Prior to landing the job on MasterChef, ‘Gregg the Veg’ was a greengrocer in Covent Garden before ultimately opening his own restaurant, Wallace and Co, in Putney.

The site was ultimately closed just after the Christmas break back in 2013 after he was forced to sell its parent company, Wallace Cafes.

As for the current investigation, he is said to be “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process.”

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — BBC (screenshot)

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Manchester United fans planning protest over significant ticket price increase

Danny Jones Danny Jones Man United fans planning protest outside Old Trafford over ticket price increase

Manchester United fans are reportedly planning a large-scale protest outside Old Trafford following a recent ticket price increase.

The club announced the sudden price hike for official Man United members earlier this week, removing the concession discount for all ticket options, which means that no matter your age or accessibility needs, games will cost £66 for the rest of the 24/25 campaign.

Seemingly decided overnight, the changes have been put into immediate effect, meaning from now until May 2025, adult fans looking to grab a standard ticket to the match will have to pay an extra £16 for the pleasure – the last thing people want to hear during the festive period and wider cost of living crisis.

As a result of the steps taken by the higher-ups, the official Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) has issued an official statement, calling the decision “offensive” and warning that this could signal something bigger and more severe next season. Not unlike the club, one group is acting now.

Supporters group The 1958, who helped spearhead the most recent slate of anti-Glazer demonstrations. between 2021 and 2023, say they contacted the club to ask for permission to bring a banner reading ‘Stop Exploiting Loyalty into the crowd but “unfortunately they didn’t even have the courtesy to reply.”

Having “demanded” the ticket price increase be reversed, they sent an extensive letter to the club this week; in an effort to remain transparent, they shared the correspondence in full on their website.

Addressing recently appointed CEO Omar Berrada (formerly of the City Football Group) directly, the letter expressed, in short, their “anger and disappointment” over the new prices, labelling it “exploitation of our loyal fan base”, highlighting the new obstruction to not only young but pension-age and disabled supporters as a “disgusting low blow”.

Suggesting that this could start a trend of fans ultimately being forced to sell their season tickets only for them to be immediately resold at a higher price, they described the strategy as ‘corporate touting’ and “the first step towards dynamic pricing”.

As a result, although United are set to play in the Europa League on Thursday night, the crucially peaceful demonstration outside the home ground will be held with associated members of the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and Everton fans before their Premier League game this weekend.

The new flat-rate Man United ticket price which has sparked protest plans. (Credit: screenshot)

To put this into context, these new minimum prices mean that it would cost a grand total of £132 just for a parent to take their child to a match this season, and all of this inflation has happened without any consultation with supporters’ groups.

As for MUST, they called out the club’s insistence that 97% of this current season’s tickets are now sold, questioning the veracity of this claim and also going on to share the fear “that this is only the opening salvo of what will surely be massive pressure to implement a significant price rise for next season.”

With INEOS having carried out a raft of cost-cutting measures, including getting rid of 250 members of staff – which is also said to have cost them £8.6 million in redundancy packages – the is clearly part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co. plans to streamline the business which is still approximately £867 million in debt.

Nevertheless, it now looks like fans are the next to pay for the policy and although will no doubt be lofted by the arrival of their new manager, Rúben Amorim, until results improve and prices are reduced or at the very least frozen, it’s looking like it could be another fraught period at the Theatre of Dreams.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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