MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has stepped away amid misconduct investigation

  1. Home
  2. News
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.

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.”

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.

Read more:

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)