FEMALE celebrities are said to be keen to appear on MasterChef after having previously turned it down in the past.
In the wake of Gregg Wallace stepping down from his role as a host on the hit cookery show amid allegations of inappropriate comments, female celebrities are getting in touch with producers to sign up for future episodes of the show.
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A source has told The Sun that female celebrities “didn’t feel comfortable” about appearing on the show in the past, with some now even “thinking” about signing up and others even chatting to producers.
“In the past, some female celebrities have turned down the chance to be on the show because they didn’t feel comfortable,” the source told us.
“People talk and it was no secret that Gregg could be a bit difficult.
“Some had even met him before and thought twice about doing the show.
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“Since he stepped down though, people are thinking about doing it and have even been in touch with producers to chat about it,” the source went on.
Last week, Gregg stepped down from MasterChef in a move that shocked the nation.
Gregg has co-hosted MasterChef since 2005, with him stepping down after multiple complaints emerged.
Among the complaints made against Gregg to the production company Banijay UK, there were accusations of inappropriate behaviour and sexualised comments.
The former MasterChef host is currently under investigation by Banijay, but despite this, he is still scheduled to appear on the BBC over the \next month and the Christmas period due to pre-recorded programmes.
‘MIDDLE-CLASS WOMEN OF A CERTAIN AGE’ COMMENT
This comes after Gregg apologised for a video he posted online over the weekend where he could be seen suggesting that the allegations made against him came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.
On Sunday, in an out-of-the-blue Instagram video, Gregg said that there were “13 complaints” from “over 4,000 contestants” that he had worked with in 20 years on the BBC show.
“Now in the newspaper, I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity Masterchef. This isn’t right,” he said on Sunday of the allegations.
GREGG’S APOLOGY
Met with a massive amount of backlash, Gregg then issued an apology for his “middle-class women of a certain age” comment.
Speaking on Monday, the former MasterChef host said, “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.
Gregg Wallace – MasterChef scandal in Brief
GREGG Wallace has stepped down from his MasterChef hosting role after a probe into alleged inappropriate behaviour. But what’s the situation?
Regular MasterChef host Gregg Wallace is currently the subject of a probe after an investigation was launched into his alleged misconduct over a number of years.
Gregg has been accused of making sexual remarks to 13 colleagues including Beeb anchor Kirsty Wark – accusations he denies.
The 60-year-old has now stepped away from the BBC show while historical misconduct allegations against him are investigated.
Yet the former greengrocer spoke out on social media to blast the “women of a certain age” who he claimed were behind the allegations.
The cooking show’s production company, Banijay UK, has said law firm Lewis Silkin would lead the investigation into Wallace’s alleged misconduct.
“I wasn’t in a good head space 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.”
He went on, “It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out while this investigation is underway.
“I hope you understand and I do hope that you will accept this apology.”
GREGG STILL ON THE BOX
This comes as the scheduled pre-recorded MasterChef episodes of its current season have been confirmed to still be due to air.
The BBC confirmed this week that it will go ahead with the broadcast of the current series of MasterChef.
“MasterChef is life-changing for the chefs that take part and the show is about more than one individual,” said a BBC spokesperson.
Reports also claim that the broadcaster is refusing to pull any Christmas specials scheduled to air this Christmas featuring the host.
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