The BBC has announced it will pull its MasterChef Christmas specials amid an investigation into allegations by 13 individuals of sexually inappropriate comments made by host Gregg Wallace.
Two Christmas specials of the cookery show were planned to air on BBC One later this month. But BBC News said on Tuesday afternoon the episodes would no longer be broadcast.
It represents a U-turn for the corporation, which previously said all filmed episodes of MasterChef would air as planned.
It comes as fresh allegations of misconduct emerge against Wallace and pressure continues to mount on BBC bosses to axe MasterChef entirely.
Despite criticism from public figures, including senior politicians, the BBC said the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals, which airs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays with Wallace as a judge, will still go ahead.
New claims have also been made against Wallace, including from TV presenter Melanie Sykes, who said an alleged remark made by him on Celebrity MasterChef forced her to quit television “once and for all”.
Meanwhile, former MasterChef contestant Jackie Kearney told Sky News that Wallace made innuendos “constantly” during filming and was heard by crew members - and that one sexually inappropriate comment left her in tears.
Key points
- BBC pulls MasterChef Christmas specials amid Gregg Wallace claims
- Labour Grandee calls for BBC to pause MasterChef broadcasts
- Stephen Fry brands Gregg Wallace as ‘unbelievably foolish’
- No10 says Wallace comments on middle class women were ‘misogynistic’
- BBC under pressure to pause Masterchef as it probes allegations
Breaking: BBC pulls MasterChef Christmas specials amid Gregg Wallace claims
13:25
Tom Barnes
The BBC has announced it will pull its MasterChef Christmas specials amid an investigation into allegations by 13 individuals of sexually inappropriate comments made by host Gregg Wallace.
Two Christmas specials of the cookery show were planned to air on BBC One later this month. But BBC News said on Tuesday afternoon the episodes would no longer be broadcast.
It represents a U-turn for the corporation, which previously said all filmed episodes of MasterChef would air as planned.
Current season of MasterChef: The Professionals to continue airing
14:42
Athena Stavrou
Though the BBC has pulled its MasterChef Christmas specials from its schedule, the broadcaster will continue to air the current season of MasterChef: The Professionals.
A BBC spokesperson said: “As we have said, MasterChef is an amazing competition which is life-changing for the chefs taking part and the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals is continuing as planned.
“The celebrity Christmas specials are obviously a different type of show and in the current circumstances we have decided not to broadcast them.”
Comment: Don’t worry about Gregg Wallace – he’s already eyeing up his next career move
14:23
Athena Stavrou
“If you’re a middle-class man of a certain age worried about Gregg Wallace’s future career prospects, there’s no need. Honestly. It’s all going to be absolutely fine – I promise you,” writes Helen Coffey.
“The disgraced ‘MasterChef’ judge is clearly gearing up to follow in the tried and tested footsteps of many problematic men before him”
Read the full comment here:
ICYMI: Wallace remarks on middle-class women ‘inappropriate and misogynistic’, says No 10
13:56
Athena Stavrou
Downing Street has condemned Gregg Wallace’s remarks characterising those who have complained about his alleged comments as being “middle-class women of a certain age”.
Asked about Wallace’s remarks, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson was cited as saying by the Telegraph: “On this, as we said last week these allegations are obviously deeply concerning. It’s right that a thorough investigation is conducted.
“Obviously that’s for the BBC and the production company but I would add that the Culture Secretary spoke with the BBC leadership at the end of last week on this matter and wider workplace culture issues to seek assurances that there are robust processes in place to deal with the complaints.
“And as you know clearly the comments that we’ve seen from the individual over the weekend were completely inappropriate and misogynistic.”
Gregg Wallace says head ‘not in a good place’ as he issues new apology for ‘middle class women’ jibe
13:33
Athena Stavrou
Gregg Wallace says head ‘not in a good place’ in new apology
A visibly emotional Gregg Wallace has apologised after posting a video saying complaints about his alleged inappropriate behaviour came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.
In a new Instagram message, posted on Monday, the MasterChef presenter said his head was “not in a good place” and that he is “under a lot of stress”.
My colleague Lucy Leeson reports:
Who is celebrity chef Gregg Wallace?
13:13
Athena Stavrou
Gregg 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.
ICYMI: Gregg not contracted for future series, production company confirms
12:49
Athena Stavrou
The company that produces MasterChef, has confirmed Gregg Wallace is not contracted for future series as an investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour is carried out.
Production company Banijay UK told The Independent that Wallace is contracted on a series by series basis and is not set to be a part of future series while the investigation is ongoing.
Watch: Jack Whitehall has dig at Gregg Wallace on BBC’s ‘The One Show’
12:30
Athena Stavrou
Former MasterChef contestant shares comments made by Wallace
12:07
Athena Stavrou
A former MasterChef contestant has come forward with fresh allegations of inappropriate comments made by Gregg Wallace both during and after her time in the competition.
During her time on the show in 2011, Jackie Kearney claimed Wallace would make “sexual innuendos about women when they weren’t in earshot”, as well as in front of them.
She said added: “There were several times that he would comment on my legs, or comment on the skirts I was wearing... he made a comment once: ‘If I’d known you had legs like that, maybe you’d have made it further’.”
She later returned to the show as a guest judge in 2017, shortly after the publication of her second book, which she tried to give the two judges,
“I was feeling really proud of it,” she said. “I came into the studio and was like, ‘Hi Gregg, I’ve got something for you!’ And he said, ‘Oh, is it a present for my c**k?’”
She added: “I felt like I wanted the ground to swallow me up. The humiliation and embarrassment... but it wasn’t just about what he said. I felt so humiliated, I felt so stupid.”
She then went to the toilets and cried.
Premium: Gregg Wallace is just the latest example of a much bigger problem with men
11:36
Athena Stavrou
The allegations against the ‘MasterChef’ presenter show that if you are important enough and powerful enough your transgressions will often be overlooked. It’s time for that to change, writes Eleanor Mills:
Read the full Premium article here:
BBC will go ahead with broadcasting filmed MasterChef episodes as planned
11:16
Athena Stavrou
As the BBC faces pressure to pause future broadcasts of MasterChef while the allegations of inappropriate sexual remarks by Gregg Wallace are investigated, the broadcaster insists the series will go ahead.
The current series of MasterChef: The Professionals, which airs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays with Gregg Wallace as a judge, will continue to be aired as planned.
A BBC spokesperson said: “MasterChef is life-changing for the chefs that take part and the show is about more than one individual.”
The broadcaster reiterated that “any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated”.
Melanie Sykes says ‘jaw-dropping’ Gregg Wallace encounter made her quit TV
10:49
Athena Stavrou
Gregg Wallace made an alleged remark to Melanie Sykes on Celebrity MasterChef that forced her to quit television “once and for all”.
The TV presenter appeared on the cookery competition in 2021, making it to the semi-final. However, Sykes ended up making an informal complaint about Wallace, who has “stepped away” from the show over allegations of inappropriate comments.
Writing in Illuminated, Sykes, who has been on screens since the 1990s, said that Wallace told her appearing on Celebrity MasterChef would help her career.
“I didn’t know what to say, so I smiled and said ‘Yes,’ but I was really thinking, ‘Yes, you have finally helped me decide to end my television career once and for all,’” Sykes wrote, adding: “I was done.”
Anita Rani warns Gregg Wallace ‘women have long memories’
10:21
Athena Stavrou
TV host Anita Rani has warned Gregg Wallace that the women he may have offended over the weekend have “long memories”.
The Countryfile host, 47, took to social media to respond to claims made by Wallace that “middle-class women of a certain age,” were to blame for misconduct complaints made against him.
She wrote: “It’s important to remember that many middle class women of a certain age grew up as working class girls who were, and are, fierce as f***. With long memories.”
Wallace ‘missed the perfect opportunity to say nothing’, says MP
09:54
Athena Stavrou
Gregg Wallace “missed the perfect opportunity to say nothing” in his response to an investigation being opened into his behaviour, MP Jess Phillips has said.
“I think that I’m going to go back to my mother’s best advice for Gregg Wallace at the moment … that he missed the perfect opportunity to say nothing,” the safeguarding minister told Times Radio.
His comments in response to an inquiry being opened were “sexist, they were less than helpful, and they were less than helpful to him,” she said.
“I think that the investigation has to go ahead, but Gregg Wallace obviously has complete capability to apologise for anything that he sees fit in the meantime.
“Now, you know the allegations that have been made need to be looked into, but if they are found, then of course he should apologise and show that he’s going to change his behaviour if that’s the case.”
Comment: Don’t worry about Gregg Wallace – he’s already eyeing up his next career move
09:28
Athena Stavrou
“If you’re a middle-class man of a certain age worried about Gregg Wallace’s future career prospects, there’s no need. Honestly. It’s all going to be absolutely fine – I promise you,” writes Helen Coffey.
“The disgraced ‘MasterChef’ judge is clearly gearing up to follow in the tried and tested footsteps of many problematic men before him”
Read the full comment here:
Men on TV must consider ‘banter’, Stephen Fry says
09:13
Athena Stavrou
Stephen Fry has said men in television must consider who may be the “victim or stereotype” at the root of their “light banter” after Gregg Wallace apologised for his response to complaints made about his behaviour.
Fry told Sky News Breakfast on Tuesday: “I think if, by now, people who work in television, men who work in television, don’t understand that light banter is no longer something that can be aired in ways unless they think hard about, is there a sort of victim or a stereotype at the root of this banter who might be hurt.
“And it’s just good manners, really. Good manners have changed. In Victorian times, certain things couldn’t be referred to or seen and it was only polite to obey this because people were shocked and upset if things were not respected that they respect.
“And so I think we’ve all just got to realise it’s not about wokeness, it’s just about being sensitive to the atmosphere.”
Jess Phillips ‘okay’ with MasterChef continuing to air
09:00
Athena Stavrou
MP Jess Phillips has said she is comfortable with MasterChef continuing to air while host Gregg Wallace is investigated over his behaviour.
She told BBC Breakfast: “Gregg Wallace isn’t the only person on MasterChef, if it was just the Gregg Wallace show, then I could understand that you would immediately go, yeah, just take it off the air.
“But it is a launchpad for quite a lot of young chefs. It’s not for me to decide what the BBC chooses to air or not.”
As long as the investigation is ongoing, she said, she is “okay” with MasterChef continuing to air.
Stephen Fry brands Wallace as ‘unbelievably foolish'
08:51
Athena Stavrou
Gregg Wallace has been branded as “unbelievably foolish” by Stephen Fry for posting a video to social media over the weekend blaming “middle-class women of a certain age” for complaints against him.
The veteran actor told SkyNews: “It was obviously unbelievably foolish of Gregg Wallace to make that video over the weekend. It really showed that he wasn’t understanding.”
“Even if he felt he had been misunderstood himself, he could surely see that there were some women there who were truly hurt and had felt not listened to and that he should first of all address that.”
Labour Grandee calls for BBC to pause MasterChef broadcasts
08:42
Athena Stavrou
The BBC is facing calls from senior politicians to pause broadcasting of MasterChef as it investigates complaints of misconduct against host Gregg Wallace.
Labour grandee Baroness Harriet Harman said she does not “think the BBC should be airing” the show as she told LBC : “It is not the job of presenters to trash a whole load of viewers who hitherto have enjoyed watching the programme. But I, for one, am not going to be watching it.”
Downing Street has also condemned remarks Wallace made over the weekend about middle class women being to blame for the complaints as “inappropriate and misogynistic”.
Watch: Ex MasterChef star Aggie Mackenzie claims Gregg Wallace told ‘smutty’ jokes
08:00
Alex Croft
Comment | Gregg Wallace is just the latest example of a much bigger problem with men
07:30
Alex Croft
When I woke up to MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace blaming midlife, middle-class women and their lack of a sense of humour for his troubles, I confess to swearing at my phone. The levels of denial here are off the scale; how can he think it is our collective lack of a sense of humour which is the villain here, not his own over-sexualised, aggressive, Neanderthal-style banter?
Did Wallace – who has been accused of making inappropriate sexual comments over a period of 17 years – not stop for a second to consider that it might be these women who are calling him out because they are the ones with the confidence to do so?
Read the full Voices piece by journalist Eleanor Mills:
Watch: Gregg Wallace and Kirsty Wark clash in MasterChef kitchen in resurfaced clip
07:01
Alex Croft
The BBC has a Gregg Wallace problem that goes beyond MasterChef
06:02
Alex Croft
Is the fate of a television cookery presenter more important than Syrian insurgents seizing Aleppo and the turmoil on the streets in Georgia? The BBC thinks so, based on its news judgements in recent days, which have seen exhaustive coverage of the accusations against Gregg Wallace take precedence over matters of life and death around the world.
Once again, the “independence” of BBC News has been trumpeted in its ability to report on the corporation’s own business – but for many, it reflects a self-obsession and lack of perspective which questions the judgement of the news division. Senior BBC executives share this view, I know, but they feel powerless to intervene without the risk of being accused of corporate cover-ups.
Former head of BBC news, Roger Mosey, writes:
Wallace is ‘full of jokes’, says TV chef Tom Kerridge
05:01
Alex Croft
TV chef Tom Kerridge said he has always known Gregg Wallace to be “full of jokes”.
“And he’s always full of charisma. And that front of camera charisma is always something that continues into off-screen as well”, Mr Kerridge told Sky News’ Politics hub.
Timeline of events as Gregg Wallace faces wave of accusations
04:03
Alex Croft
Gregg Wallace has faced a series of accusations since it was announced he would step away from presenting hit BBC cooking show MasterChef while complaints about historical allegations of misconduct are externally reviewed.
The presenter, 60, faces various claims of making “inappropriate sexual jokes” and complaints about his behaviour, with his lawyer saying “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
Here is a timeline of events:
Downing Street says Wallace comments on middle class women were ‘misogynistic’
03:00
Alex Croft
Downing Street has said Gregg Wallace’s response to the accusations being made against him was “inappropriate and misogynistic”.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has since held talks with BBC bosses in the wake of the Wallace row, Downing Street said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Culture Secretary spoke with the BBC leadership at the end of last week on this matter and wider workplace culture issues to seek assurances that there are robust processes in place to deal with complaints.
“Clearly the comments we have seen from the individual over the weekend were completely inappropriate and misogynistic.
“More broadly the BBC is conducting an independent review into workplace culture which must deliver clear and timely recommendations. It’s essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously.”
Asked whether MasterChef should be pulled off air, the spokesman added the decision was for the BBC and the show’s production company, and reiterated that Downing Street believes it is “right” that a thorough investigation is conducted.
Gregg Wallace says head ‘not in a good place’ as he issues new apology for ‘middle class women’ jibe
02:02
Alex Croft
Gregg Wallace says head ‘not in a good place’ in new apology
A visibly emotional Gregg Wallace has apologised after posting a video saying complaints about his alleged inappropriate behaviour came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.
In a new Instagram message, posted on Monday, the MasterChef presenter said his head was “not in a good place” and that he is “under a lot of stress”.
My colleague Lucy Leeson reports:
Essential that staff and public are confident BBC takes workplace issues seriously, says No 10
01:03
Alex Croft
Downing Street has warned that it is “essential that staff and the wider public have confidence” that the BBC takes issues relating to workplace culture seriously.
After revealing that culture secretary Lisa Nandy spoke to BBC bosses last week after the Gregg Wallace row began, No 10 said: “More broadly the BBC is conducting an independent review into workplace culture which must deliver clear and timely recommendations.
“It’s essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously.”
ICYMI: Wallace remarks on middle-class women ‘inappropriate and misogynistic’, says No 10
00:01
Alex Croft
Downing Street has condemned Gregg Wallace’s remarks characterising those who have complained about his alleged comments as being “middle-class women of a certain age”.
Asked about Wallace’s remarks, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson was cited as saying by the Telegraph: “On this, as we said last week these allegations are obviously deeply concerning. It’s right that a thorough investigation is conducted.
“Obviously that’s for the BBC and the production company but I would add that the Culture Secretary spoke with the BBC leadership at the end of last week on this matter and wider workplace culture issues to seek assurances that there are robust processes in place to deal with the complaints.
“And as you know clearly the comments that we’ve seen from the individual over the weekend were completely inappropriate and misogynistic.”
Who is celebrity chef Gregg Wallace?
Monday 2 December 2024 23:18
Alex Croft
Gregg 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.
Culture secretary spoke to BBC bosses after Gregg Wallace row erupted, No 10 says
Monday 2 December 2024 22:33
Alex Croft
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy held talks with BBC bosses to seek assurances that “there are rohbust processes in place to deal with complaints” in the wake of the Gregg Wallace row, Downing Street has said.
Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said that Ms Nandy “spoke with the BBC leadership at the end of last week on this matter and wider workplace culture issues”.
BBC source says wrong to suggest broadcaster has not acted on complaints
Monday 2 December 2024 21:50
Alex Croft
A BBC source has said it would be wrong to report that the broadcaster has not acted when complaints have been raised.
The source said: “While we are not going to comment on individuals or any internal HR processes, particularly when there is an ongoing process in place being run by Banijay who have the direct contractual relationship with Gregg Wallace, it would be wrong to report the BBC has done nothing if or when matters have been raised with us – not least because it is already being widely reported there were interventions in both 2017 and 2018 where action was taken.
“We continue to urge caution about pre-judging any of this, particularly the involvement of BBC staff members and any inference they have not acted appropriately.”
BBC executive Kate Phillips raised concerns in 2017 that Gregg Wallace’s behaviour was “unacceptable and cannot continue” after former Celebrity MasterChef contestant Aasmah Mir complained about inappropriate comments during filming, the Sunday Times has reported.
The newspaper claimed Wallace then received another warning the following year after a complaint was raised about his behaviour on the quiz show Impossible Celebrities.
Watch: Lorraine Kelly responds to Gregg Wallace MasterChef scandal: ‘Shut up’
Monday 2 December 2024 21:12
Alex Croft
BBC will go ahead with broadcasting filmed MasterChef episodes as planned
Monday 2 December 2024 20:40
Alex Croft
As the BBC faces pressure to pause future broadcasts of MasterChef while the allegations of inappropriate sexual remarks by Gregg Wallace are investigated, the broadcaster insists the series will go ahead.
The current series of MasterChef: The Professionals, which airs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays with Gregg Wallace as a judge, will continue to be aired as planned.
A BBC spokesperson said: “MasterChef is life-changing for the chefs that take part and the show is about more than one individual.”
The broadcaster reiterated that “any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated”.
Gregg Wallace’s latest comments criticised by ex Celebrity MasterChef contestant
Monday 2 December 2024 20:11
Alex Croft
A former Celebrity MasterChef contestant has said Gregg Wallace’s reaction to the accusations being made against him shows he has “no insight or understanding of how he behaves”.
Addressing Wallace’s response to the accusations, Scottish TV presenter Aggie MacKenzie told Good Morning Britain: “This illustrates how he just has no insight or understanding of how he behaves. He just doesn’t get it.
“He’s been allowed to carry on in his own sweet way for many, many years.”
Gregg Wallace: From troubled childhood to troubling reputation, this TV stalwart is facing self-destruction
Monday 2 December 2024 19:45
Alex Croft
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.
Wallace was born in Peckham, in southeast London, in 1964. The Sixties were a time when Peckham, a traditionally working-class neighbourhood with a large African-Caribbean population, started to be redeveloped and re-energised, turning it into a vibrant, multicultural and upwardly mobile area.
Nick Hilton writes:
BBC should examine how complaints against stars are dealt with, Tory MP says
Monday 2 December 2024 19:22
Alex Croft
A Tory frontbencher has suggested that the BBC must examine how complaints against its stars are dealt with.
Shadow paymaster general Richard Holden told Sky News: “Quite clearly there’s a lot of issues facing the BBC over this. He’s been a star presenter for a number of years, and quite clearly a lot of this stuff’s been mentioned before.
“And so this needs to be properly looked at, not just around his behaviour, but around how things are dealt with when things are mentioned as well.”
Asked whether the BBC should pull its MasterChef Christmas special, Mr Holden said: “This is going to be a decision for them as far as a broader view. I think it’s really important that they look at this.”
BBC executive raised concerns over Wallace’s ‘unacceptable’ behaviour in 2017, report claims
Monday 2 December 2024 18:54
Alex Croft
BBC executive Kate Phillips raised concerns in 2017 that Gregg Wallace’s behaviour was “unacceptable and cannot continue” after former Celebrity MasterChef contestant Aasmah Mir complained about inappropriate comments during filming, the Sunday Times has reported.
In an email forwarded to Ms Phillips in November 2017, Ms Mir wrote: “Should anything happen in the future, I don’t want to feel guilty when people say, ‘Why wasn’t anything said before?’, or for producers or editors to claim they didn’t know.”
The newspaper claimed Wallace then received another warning the following year after a complaint was raised about his behaviour on the quiz show Impossible Celebrities.
Comment | Gregg Wallace is just the latest example of a much bigger problem with men
Monday 2 December 2024 18:27
Alex Croft
When I woke up to MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace blaming midlife, middle-class women and their lack of a sense of humour for his troubles, I confess to swearing at my phone. The levels of denial here are off the scale; how can he think it is our collective lack of a sense of humour which is the villain here, not his own over-sexualised, aggressive, Neanderthal-style banter?
Did Wallace – who has been accused of making inappropriate sexual comments over a period of 17 years – not stop for a second to consider that it might be these women who are calling him out because they are the ones with the confidence to do so?
Read the full Voices piece by journalist Eleanor Mills:
Watch: Ex MasterChef star Aggie Mackenzie claims Gregg Wallace told ‘smutty’ jokes
Monday 2 December 2024 18:01
Alex Croft
ICYMI: Gregg not contracted for future series, production company confirms
Monday 2 December 2024 17:36
Alex Croft
The company that produces MasterChef, has confirmed Gregg Wallace is not contracted for future series as an investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour is carried out.
Production company Banijay UK told The Independent that Wallace is contracted on a series by series basis and is not set to be a part of future series while the investigation is ongoing.
Wallace is ‘full of jokes’, says TV chef Tom Kerridge
Monday 2 December 2024 17:10
Alex Croft
TV chef Tom Kerridge said he has always known Gregg Wallace to be “full of jokes”.
“And he’s always full of charisma. And that front of camera charisma is always something that continues into off-screen as well”, Mr Kerridge told Sky News’ Politics hub.
Kirstie Allsopp ‘so embarrassed’ by Gregg Wallace sex remark
Monday 2 December 2024 16:43
Alex Croft
TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has said she was “so embarrassed” she thought she “might cry” after Gregg Wallace allegedly made a comment to her about his sex life.
Allsopp, 53, said the encounter took place several years ago in a performers’ lounge while she was filming a pilot for a TV quiz show alongside Wallace and his partner.
She told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend: “I’d been chatting to her, she left the room and he (Wallace) made a reference to something they did in bed.
“You know that feeling when you’re so embarrassed that you think you might cry. You just feel kind of internally scarlet. I had that feeling and I always remembered it.”
Gregg Wallace tells Strictly partner he does not wear underwear
Monday 2 December 2024 16:25
Alex Croft
Comment | The BBC has a Gregg Wallace problem that goes beyond MasterChef
Monday 2 December 2024 15:51
Andy Gregory
In a comment piece for Independent Voices, former head of BBC news Roger Mosey writes:
Is the fate of a television cookery presenter more important than Syrian insurgents seizing Aleppo and the turmoil on the streets in Georgia? The BBC thinks so, based on its news judgements in recent days, which have seen exhaustive coverage of the accusations against Gregg Wallace take precedence over matters of life and death around the world.
Once again, the “independence” of BBC News has been trumpeted in its ability to report on the corporation’s own business – but for many it reflects a self-obsession and lack of perspective which questions the judgement of the news division. Senior BBC executives share this view, I know, but they feel powerless to intervene without the risk of being accused of corporate cover-ups.
And yes, of course, the Wallace affair should be reported on – proportionately. It is both a genuine story, with obvious upset caused to those who’ve had a nasty experience with the former MasterChef host, and it is a further blow to the BBC which has been battling against misbehaviour by its presenters for decades.
What makes this case particularly damaging – and we should note that investigations are continuing and no conclusions have yet emerged – is that it seems that managers in the BBC and in the production company Banijay must have known that there was a Wallace Problem.
Read the full article with Independent Premium:
Timeline of events as Gregg Wallace faces wave of accusations
Monday 2 December 2024 15:17
Andy Gregory
Gregg Wallace has faced a series of accusations since it was announced he would step away from presenting MasterChef while complaints about historical allegations of misconduct are externally reviewed.
The presenter, 60, faces various claims of making “inappropriate sexual jokes” and complaints about his behaviour – with his lawyer saying “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
Here is a timeline of events:
Watch: Gregg Wallace issues apology over ‘women of a certain age’ remark
Monday 2 December 2024 14:50
Andy Gregory
Gregg Wallace says head ‘not in a good place’ in new apology
Monday 2 December 2024 14:29
Andy Gregory
A visibly emotional Gregg Wallace has apologised after posting a video saying complaints about his alleged inappropriate behaviour came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.
In a new Instagram message, posted on Monday, the MasterChef presenter said his head was “not in a good place” and that he is “under a lot of stress”.
My colleague Lucy Leeson reports:
Downing Street says Wallace comments on middle class women were ‘misogynistic'
Monday 2 December 2024 14:11
Holly Evans
Downing Street has said Gregg Wallace’s response to the accusations being made against him was “inappropriate and misogynistic”.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has since held talks with BBC bosses in the wake of the Wallace row, Downing Street said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Culture Secretary spoke with the BBC leadership at the end of last week on this matter and wider workplace culture issues to seek assurances that there are robust processes in place to deal with complaints.
“Clearly the comments we have seen from the individual over the weekend were completely inappropriate and misogynistic.
“More broadly the BBC is conducting an independent review into workplace culture which must deliver clear and timely recommendations. It’s essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously.”
Asked whether MasterChef should be pulled off air, the spokesman added the decision was for the BBC and the show’s production company, and reiterated that Downing Street believes it is “right” that a thorough investigation is conducted.
Essential that staff and public are confident BBC takes workplace issues seriously, says No 10
Monday 2 December 2024 14:03
Andy Gregory
Downing Street has warned that it is “essential that staff and the wider public have confidence” that the BBC takes issues relating to workplace culture seriously.
After revealing that culture secretary Lisa Nandy spoke to BBC bosses last week after the Gregg Wallace row began, No 10 said: “More broadly the BBC is conducting an independent review into workplace culture which must deliver clear and timely recommendations.
“It’s essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously.”
