The allegations against Gregg Wallace continue to mount as the former MasterChef host is now facing fresh claims of ‘groping’ and inappropriate ‘touching’.
Wallace stepped down from the show last week after pressure from an initial accusation ultimately resulted in a total of 13 individuals coming forward to lodge formal, historical complaints.
Spanning across a 17-year period, with the 60-year-old having worked on MasterChef and other TV projects for nearly two whole decades, these latest allegations were put to his representatives on Tuesday but Wallace still strongly denies engaging in anything of a “sexualised nature”.
According to the latest in the BBC News investigation, he is now accused of numerous instances of both sexually-charged comments and behaviour. Actor, comedian, writer and fellow TV personality Emma Kennedy also says she believes he “does not understand” when he’s being inappropriate.
“As she was bending over, Gregg put his hands over her buttocks, and then turned to me and went ‘Cor!’”@EmmaKennedy tells #TimesRadio she believes Gregg Wallace “fundamentally does not understand” when he is being inappropriate.@AyeshaHazarikapic.twitter.com/xqzwfQsDGz
Speaking to the corporation, one woman referred to only as ‘Lisa’ says that while filming for the Eat Well For Less show at a supermarket back in 2015, Wallace “brushed past me at the checkout, and touched my bum with his waist and penis and laughed and said ‘oooh you liked that didn’t you’.”
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Despite insisting she felt like she just had to get on with her job at the time, she says: “I wasn’t ok about it. When I finished the shoot, I felt it was slimy, disgusting. He just didn’t need to touch my body, it made me uncomfortable.” She also says she raised the issues with a senior colleague but nothing happened.
In a separate incident, Wallace is also accused of touching another woman inappropriately after he asked her to walk him to the car park after an event. “As we walked down, he started putting his arm around me, saying ‘Go on, hold my hand, don’t you want to stand next to me?’ It was totally out of the blue, and totally unwanted”, she said.
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The anonymous woman said she was later pulled into a group hug in an elevator, during which she claims the long-serving MasterChef co-presenter and household name “put his hand on my bottom and groped me”, adding, “It made me feel gross, it was horrible.”
She went on to say that although she still struggles to see his face on TV and feels “sad that so many people are coming forward”, she’s also relieved that so many have spoken out about their experiences.
MasterChef production company, Banijay UK – who are working in full cooperation with the BBC as part of their own internal investigation – state they have no record of these issues being raised at the time of the incidents, reiterating that this is the case for all 13 women who have now filed complaints.
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Banijay and BBC have agreed to pull the two already recorded 2024 MasterChef Christmas special episodes that were scheduled to air on BBC One this month.
Meanwhile, while Wallace is still yet to respond to these most recent allegations, he still categorically denies the claims already put forward.
The former greengrocer and restaurant owner did, however, apologise for a recent response video he made during which he received additional backlash for citing those who complained as “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age” – a comment which a No.10 official branded “misogynistic”.
Neil Young U-turns on Glastonbury drop-out after being confirmed as festival headliner
Danny Jones
Barely a beat or two after having seemingly dropped out of the festival, Neil Young has now U-turned on Glastonbury 2025 and now looks set to be headlining it.
Thelegendary musician called out the world-renowned music festival for being under “corporate” control at the whim of the BBC (its official media and broadcasting partner for nearly 30 years) and said he would no longer be playing his slot.
Young went so far as to call it a “corporate turn-off”, claiming the event is “not how I remember it” in a message on his website.
However, just a few days after posting the news, it now appears as though the Canadian singer-songwriter will still be playing Glastonbury – and not just as one of the multiple legends lined up for 2025 either, but as a headliner.
Neil Young is now seemingly headlining Glastonbury 2025. (Credit: Screenshot via Neil Young Archives)
As you can see in the update shared on Friday, 3 January, the 79-year-old now claims there was an “error” in the information he received regarding his performance at the festival.
Having now cleared up whatever confusion occurred, he and his band the Chrome Hearts will in fact be playing the festival as planned, reiterating his long-lasting love for the festival.
Quite a far cry from the sentiment he seemed to be getting across in his previous post, but make of that what you will.
Furthermore, chief organiser Emily Eavis – whose parents Michael and Jean Eavis set up the first ever Glastonbury music festival back in 1970 – not only hopped on social media to confirm that ‘Shakey’ will be performing but that he will be headline the main Pyramid Stage.
“Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury”, she wrote, adding: “He does things his own way and that’s why we love him.”
So has he been given a slot upgrade of sorts or what? It still remains a little unclear.
At present, Rod Stewart is set to play the iconic and outright ‘Legends’ slot during Sunday teatime this June. We likely won’t hear much else about the rest of the lineup until sometime in spring.
This, of course, isn’t the first time Neil Young has done a 180 following a well-publicised decision in protest against a big media company.
The music veteran famously removed all of his discography from Spotify for two years before it eventually reappeared back in March 2024.
As for whatever happened between him and the festival or whether this was some gamesmanship from the influential music icon, at the end of the day, he’s heading to Worthy Farm after all.
Met Office issues double Amber weather warning for snow in Greater Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The Met Office has slapped TWO Amber weather warnings across Greater Manchester with snow and ice forecast to be on the way.
The weather service said predicted that snow and freezing rain over the weekend are likely to lead to disruption, including possible power cuts, transport delays and road closures.
There is currently an Amber weather warning for snow covering an area from Newcastle all the way down to Greater Manchester.
And there’s a separate Amber warning for snow and ice which covers everywhere from Cardiff up to Greater Manchester.
It means that our city is currently under three separate weather warnings across the UK, according to the Met Office.
The warnings for snow and ice are in place from 6pm on Saturday until midday on Sunday, while the warning for just snow begins on Saturday at 9pm and doesn’t end until Sunday at midnight.
According to the Greater Manchester weather forecast, we are likely to see heavy snow showers overnight on Saturday and into Sunday morning.
Though in typical Manchester fashion, there’s then heavy rain forecast on Sunday afternoon which may melt any snow that does fall.
Amber severe weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued for parts of England and Wales this weekend with up to 30-40cm of snow possible in parts of Northern England.
The Met Office said: “Snow will become persistent and locally heavy as it pushes south to north across the warning area. As well as snow, a period of freezing rain is also likely bringing some hazardous travel conditions, before milder air follows across all areas by Sunday morning.
“Whilst there is some uncertainty in details, 3-7 cm of snow is likely for much of the warning area, with locally 15-30 cm for the higher ground of Wales and the southern Pennines. Freezing rain could lead to ice accretion in places, especially parts of Wales, before the milder air leads to a rapid thaw of snow and ice in the south of the warning area through Sunday.
“It is safer not to drive in these conditions, but if you need to make an essential journey, consider alternative forms of transport, to keep you and others safe. If you must drive, do this more safely by: using dipped headlights; accelerating gently, using low revs and changing to higher gears as quickly as possible; starting in second gear to help with wheel slip; maintaining a safe and steady speed, keeping distance from other vehicles; using a low gear to go downhill, avoiding braking unless necessary; steering into skids, not taking your hands of the wheel, and avoiding slamming on brakes.
“People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It’s easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.
“If isolated due to snow or ice, follow these simple steps to keep safe and well: keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night; turn off electrical heaters and put out your fire before going to bed; ensure pets are safe by keeping them warm and comfortable; prevent frozen pipes by opening kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing; stay indoors, wrap up warm and close internal doors to keep the heat in; and, if you need support call the British Red Cross Support Line on 0808 196 3651.
“Help to protect vulnerable people that you know including older people, those with underlying conditions and those who live alone; they may need support with food and medical supplies. If you are worried about your health or that of somebody you know, ring NHS 111.”
Danny Jones -
4th December 2024 
