MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace has addressed allegations of inappropriate comments he allegedly made to a female member of staff at the BBC.
It was claimed the judge, 59, ‘made inappropriate sexual comments’ on game show Impossible Celebrities, and took his top off in front of an employee in 2018.
He was also accused of being rude and insulting to women on a different programme last year, according to reports.
This comes amid several scandals at the BBC, following the firing of Jermaine Jenas, allegations against pro stars on Strictly Come Dancing, and Huw Edwards’ conviction.
Gregg took to Instagram to address the accusations in a video that has now been deleted, saying: ‘With reference to what’s in the newspapers, these allegations were investigated by the BBC six years ago – and my comments were found to be not sexual. I repeat not sexual. Thank you.
‘Something else that I feel very strongly about, strong enough to be on here, nobody six years ago or since has accused me of flirting with anyone or hitting on anyone, and that is important to me, and I say this for my wife Anna, who I have been true to and madly in love with since the day I met her.
‘I don’t want anyone to misunderstand this and make it look like I was flirting with somebody. Nobody accused me of that and I never have.’
In another clip on his social media, he said: ‘The story that is hitting the newspapers, this was investigated promptly when it happened six years ago by the BBC.
‘And the outcome of that was that I hadn’t said anything sexual, I need to repeat this again, I didn’t say anything sexual.
‘Despite what the newspapers are suggesting, nobody six years ago accused me of flirting with anybody or hitting on anybody, and the reason I say this is because of my wife Anna.
‘I have always been true to my wife Anna and never flirted or hit on anybody in the 12 years that I met her and fell in love with her.
‘It’s important that, so people don’t misunderstand that I am true to my wife.’
A source previously claimed: ‘There are questions to be asked about the decision to allow Gregg to continue on MasterChef despite these previous incidents.
‘The BBC say they are keen to clear up issues around workplace culture but have allowed Gregg to remain on a flagship show despite allegations about his conduct.’
The Sun claims the incident in 2018 was unreported until just last week, with the insider continuing: ‘Gregg was accused of making inappropriate comments to a younger, female member of the production team.
‘He is said to have been boasting about his sex life with his partner at the time.
‘At one point, Gregg was also accused of taking his top off in front of the woman which felt inappropriate.
‘Gregg appeared to think it was all just banter and is also said to have made some comments in front of the live audience.’
The team working on the show were said to be ‘mortified’ and told BBC bosses ‘what had happened’.
Wallace was ordered to change his behaviour, it’s been claimed, after the BBC ‘took immediate action’.
‘He made it clear that he didn’t mean anything by what he said,’ it’s reported.
A statement from the BBC reads, according to the publication: ‘Whilst we do not comment on individuals, if issues are raised they are dealt with swiftly and appropriately at the time.
‘We do not tolerate any form of inappropriate behaviour and have robust processes in place.’
Wallace declined to comment to The Sun.
This comes after allegations Wallace made ‘derogatory banter’ towards female staff on Inside The Factory, which he stepped back from presenting in March last year, after claiming he wanted to spend more time with his four-year-old son.
It was later claimed his interaction at the Nestlé factory contributed to him stepping down, as he was accused of being ‘rude towards staff’ and ‘talking in a derogatory manner, especially to women’ and was alleged to have been ‘appalled’ that he had caused ‘such an offence.’
Wallace has since broken his silence on the claims, saying on Good Morning Britain last week: ‘There was an argument in Inside The Factory. The reporting isn’t accurate. There was an issue and I thought that was the perfect time to come out.
‘Offending people? No, no. If you look at the headlines you can’t see a story that matches those headlines. But there was an issue; I don’t want to discuss what the issue was.
‘But I thought it was a good time – Mum needs help with Sid at home, running around the country going to those factories – I thought it was a good time to give something up.’
Former greengrocer Wallace had been accused of engaging in comments that were deemed inappropriate and were understood to have related to the weight of women in the facility but were not sexual in nature.
A source told The Times the staff involved shared they would not be happy participating in the show if it was to return with Wallace at the helm.
They continued: ‘[Wallace] felt that he was just trying to be friendly but no longer knew what the right thing to say was anymore and decided to leave.’
Following the initial comments, an insider from Nestle added: ‘He comes in cracking jokes but is from a very different world to our workers.’
Nestle themselves said: ‘Nestlé UK has been proud to host Inside the Factory on five occasions since the series began.
‘We have one more episode filmed . . . and would be open to participating in future episodes or similar projects.’
Metro.co.uk has approached the BBC and Gregg Wallace’s rep for comment.
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