John Torode has said he will continue to be part of MasterChef after the allegations made against his co-star Gregg Wallace.
More than a dozen women involved in shows including MasterChef, Inside The Factory and Eat Well For Less have come forward with accusations of sexually inappropriate behaviour by Wallace, who on Monday apologised for earlier remarks that the accusations were made by “middle class women of a certain age” – comments that were branded “inappropriate and misogynistic” by Number 10, among others.
In a social media statement on Wednesday, Torode broke his silence by writing: “Since last Friday I have been away filming MasterChef overseas. I love my job, and I love MasterChef. I love being part of it and will continue to be part of it.
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“During the last few days, I’ve been trying to make the best cookery programme, so being busy making the show and caring for our contestants has allowed me little time to think about anything else, but that has been hard. The thought of anyone who has appeared on our show not having a brilliant experience is awful to hear, and I have found the recent press reports truly upsetting.
“But as I hope everyone appreciates there is an investigation underway, which I fully support, so I cannot make any further comment at this stage, and I hope that you all understand and respect my silence on the matter moving forward.”
What are the latest developments with broadcasting of MasterChef?
On Tuesday the BBC announced that two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials, a Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off and a Strictly Festive Extravaganza, have been pulled from its festive schedule.
The BBC 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.”
Three episodes of BBC Two’s Inside The Factory, which are repeats, are also coming out of the schedule, but the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals remains on air.
Last week Banijay UK, the production company behind the BBC show, announced that Wallace would be “stepping away from his role on MasterChef” following complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct.
Banijay UK announced an “immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate” and said that Wallace was “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process”.
On Tuesday night Wallace, 60, faced fresh allegations with BBC News reporting that one woman said he touched her bottom after an event and another said he pressed his crotch against her while filming on a different show.
His lawyers have previously strongly denied “he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”, according to BBC News.
Who has made allegations against Gregg Wallace?
Kirsty Wark and Aggie Mackenzie have both spoken out about witnessing inappropriate comments on set from Wallace when they took part in Celebrity MasterChef, while Melanie Sykes has claimed she quit TV after appearing on the show in 2021.
Sykes wrote in her autobiography that Wallace had “finally helped me decide to end my television career once and for all”.
Former MasterChef contestant Jackie Kearney has said she was left crying with humiliation about a sexually inappropriate comment that Wallace made to her while she was visiting the show as a guest judge.
In the wake of accusations coming to light, Sir Rod Stewart posted on social media that Wallace had humiliated his wife Penny Lancaster when she took part in Celebrity MasterChef.
He wrote: “So Gregg Wallace gets fired from Masterchef. Good riddance Wallace. You humiliated my wife when she was on the celebrity version of the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you?
“You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya. Sir Rod Stewart.”
A number of other contestants and members of production crew have also complained about their experiences with Wallace on versions of MasterChef and on Inside The Factory, which he was also a host of.
What has Gregg Wallace said about the complaints against him?
After the initial allegations came out, Wallace sparked further anger when he responded to the claims by posting on social media that the complaints were from a “handful of middle class women of a certain age”.
The allegations were widely criticised, including by Downing Street who said culture secretary Lisa Nandy held bosses in the wake of the Wallace allegations.
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.
Wallace later apologised for the comments, saying: “I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.
“I wasn’t in a good headspace when I posted it, I’ve been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion, I felt very alone, under siege yesterday when I posted it.
“It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out, now, while this investigation is under way I hope you understand and I do hope you will accept this apology.”