BBC Breakfast was halted on Sunday morning (December 1) as hosts Ben Thompson and Luxmy Gopal issued a major breaking news announcement
BBC Breakfast issues update on Gregg Wallace
BBC Breakfast took an unexpected turn this morning as the programme was interrupted for a major breaking news update regarding MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace.
Wallace is currently facing historic misconduct allegations, which he has strongly refuted. Today, he chose to directly address the claims via his Instagram account (December 1).
Presenters Ben Thompson and Luxmy Gopal halted regular programming to keep viewers informed on the latest developments.
Luxmy said, referencing the social media videos: “In the past hour, Gregg Wallace has posted two videos on his Instagram about the allegations made against him during his time on MasterChef, let’s show you those videos now,” as the clips were brought up on-screen.
In the footage, Wallace appears in a neutral-toned room filled with picture frames and addresses the camera head-on, reports the Express.
In the first clip, Gregg recounted reading about “13 complaints” made against him from a “handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef”, before stating: “This isn’t right.”
In the follow-up clip, he then claimed: “In over 20 years of television can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo? Can you imagine?”
After showing the clips, BBC Breakfast co-anchor Ben Thompson remarked: “So there Gregg Wallace referring very much to MasterChef, but BBC news has also heard claims about Gregg Wallace’s behaviour on other programmes that he worked on,” before promising to bring viewers “any further developments as we get them”.
Hours before the release of the videos, Wallace posted a mysterious image on Instagram, showing what seemed to be a grey pavement captioned with the phrase ‘We are all different.’
His legal representatives have firmly stated: “It is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.”
Since 2005, Gregg has been at the helm of the popular cooking competition show MasterChef, along with its spin-offs, Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals. Amidst the ongoing situation, production company Banijay UK has said it is “committed to fully co-operating” as an investigation into the allegations is carried out.
BBC Breakfast airs daily from 6am on BBC One