TV star Gregg Wallace has been left “devastated” by his Masterchef co-presenter John Torode‘s statement on Instagram.
Wallace is facing a series of allegations of misconduct on Masterchef, all of which he has denied. His lawyers have strongly denied “he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
After staying quiet on his colleague’s allegations for nearly a week, Torode shared a statement on Instagram as he said he had been overseas filming for the BBC show.
He penned: “I love my job, and I love MasterChef,” he said. “I love being part of it and will continue to be part of it.
“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.”
He added that he “fully” supports the investigation into the allegations, but as it is ongoing, he wouldn’t be able to comment further.
Torode concluded: “I hope that you all understand and respect my silence on the matter moving forward.”
But as Torode failed to back his co-host, or even acknowledge him by name, Gregg has been left disappointed by the statement. A source told Express.co.uk: “Gregg is devastated by John’s response and feels gutted that John isn’t supporting him publicly.
“The most important thing for him is that his wife is okay, as she and his children are the most important thing to him.”
They added that he is trying to focus on Christmas and push past the investigation, saying he “doesn’t want to hold back this year because of what has happened”.
A representative for Gregg declined to comment when approached by Express.co.uk.
It has been confirmed that the two Masterchef celebrity Christmas specials scheduled to air on BBC have been cancelled.
Torode had previously insisted that he and Gregg were “not friends” off camera, telling the Mirror in 2017: “It’s funny, we’ve never been friends. We’ve not been to each other’s houses.”
He added that even while filming abroad together, they would keep their distance, explaining: “If we go away to somewhere like South Africa, we do things separately… If we do go out for a drink, I’ll invariably be at one end of a big old table, and he’ll be at the other.”
However, the current series of Masterchef: The Professionals is still airing as planned, with a spokesperson confirming the BBC made the decision as it can be “life-changing” for those appearing on the show.