Gregg Wallace latest: Allegations ‘tip of the iceberg’, ex-MasterChef star claims

Allegations against Gregg Wallace are merely the “tip of the iceberg” in what was a “really quite toxic environment” at MasterChef, a former contestant has claimed.

In remarks to Sky News, the anonymous former contestant alleged that he had been so horrified by the widespread “abuse” of contestants on the show that he considered quitting on his first day – but was too scared to speak out after signing a non-disclosure agreement.

“There was a systemic problem that was larger than just him, in my view. Gregg … would occasionally crack jokes that in different ways felt inappropriate but he wasn’t the only one,” the former contestant told Sky News.

He added: “I think it’s good that these things are coming out and I’m glad that people are speaking up, it’s brilliant. But I do think it’s the tip of the iceberg. I think if you were to really unravel and look at what was going on in that culture at large you’d see a lot more, you know, abuse.”

“It certainly wasn’t everyone, but there was certainly people from all levels of the organisation,” the ex-contesant said, adding: “It was all men … I don’t think I ever witnessed any of the women taking part in it.”

Wallace stepped back from the cooking show on Thursday as a string of allegations emerged concerning the 60-year-old’s behaviour, including that he had made inappropriate sexual jokes, asked for the phone numbers of female members of production staff, and undressed in front of women.

Over the weekend, reports emerged that the BBC had been made aware of complaints as far back as 2017, while it was claimed that a letter had been sent to the broadcaster in 2022 stating that women had been made to feel “uncomfortable” in his presence.

There’s a good reason why the disgraced former MasterChef host is angry with ‘middle-class women of a certain age’ – we’ve spent a lifetime putting up with men’s bad behaviour, and age brings the confidence to stand up to it, says Alice Smellie:

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.

A number of public figures have taken to social media today in the wake of Gregg Wallace’s claims that all of those who had made complaints against him were “‘middle-class women of a certain age”.

Radio presenter Julie Hartley-Brewer posted a meme accompanied by: “Spare a thought for Gregg Wallace’s PR agent waking up this morning,”

Meanwhile, comedian David Baddiel wrote: “It’s not often that the internet gets behind middle-class middle-aged women these days, but thanks to Gregg Wallace for making it happen.”

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 was always an unlikely TV star,” writes The Independent’s TV critic Nick Hilton. “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 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.”

Read Nick Hilton’s full analysis here:

Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has advised Gregg Wallace to “rein it in” as the MasterChef host takes to social media to respond to claims of inappropriate behaviour against him.

In response to Wallace’s earlier claim that all complainants against him were “middle-class women of a certain age”, Fearnley-Whittingstall said the comments were “not wise”.

He told the BBC that he doesn’t know the fallen star well, but having met him a few times, called him “likeable and professional”.

He said: “I don’t think it’s smart to come out talking like that when at the moment he should probably be listening.”