Gregg Wallace latest: Kirstie Allsopp slams ‘sex act’ remark in latest allegation

The presenter, 60, known for his colourful on-camera quips was previously accused of making sexually inappropriate comments to a female BBC colleague in 2018, and was forced to quit Inside the Factory over “inappropriate” remarks allegedly made to female staff last year, which he denies.

Wallace, who – among other complaints – has been accused by former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark of making jokes of a “sexualised nature” when she was competing on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011, has previously said he resents any insinuation he was “flirting” with someone who is not his wife Anna, 37.

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The company that produces MasterChef, has confirmed Gregg Wallace is not contracted for future series as an investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour is carried out.

Production company Banijay UK told The Independent that Wallace is contracted on a series by series basis and is not set to be a part of future series while the investigation is ongoing.

Upcoming episodes of MasterChef are expected to air on the BBC as planned after Gregg Wallace stepped down from his role as a host of the cooking show.

Future episodes of MasterChef: The Professionals are still slated to air on the broadcaster, while two Christmas specials are planned for the festive season.

A BBC spokesperson told The Independent: “Right now the plan is, if it’s already been recorded, it will go out.”

John Torode’s rare comments about Gregg Wallace are being dredged up in the wake of the allegations against his co-host.

In 2017, Torode made headlines after claiming that he had “never been friends” with Wallace.

He said in an interview with The Mirror: “It’s funny, we’ve never been friends. We’ve not been to each other’s houses. 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, Torode was best man during Wallace’s wedding to Anne-Maire Sterpini in 2016 and, despite his attempts to seemingly distance himself from his co-host, Wallace said on an episode of Lorraine that same year: “I film with John six or seven months of the year, so we are very close to each other physically, and emotionally we are very close to each other.

“What’s great about having a partnership is that if one of you is a bit off, a bit down, the other one naturally steps up, so I rely on John a lot.”

A number of public figures have taken to social media today in the wake of Gregg Wallace’s claims that all of those who had made complaints against him were “‘middle-class women of a certain age”.

Radio presenter Julie Hartley-Brewer posted a meme accompanied by: “Spare a thought for Gregg Wallace’s PR agent waking up this morning,”

Meanwhile, comedian David Baddiel wrote: “It’s not often that the internet gets behind middle-class middle-aged women these days, but thanks to Gregg Wallace for making it happen.”

Kirstie Allsopp said she was angered by a video the 60-year-old MasterChef presenter posted on Instagram, in which he claimed the complaints against him were coming from a “handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.

The Location, Location, Location presenter added: “That is unacceptable. Because he is essentially saying this is a class issue and middle-class women don’t understand the type of things he says because he’s working-class. Well I’m sorry, but he’s doing a incredible disservice to men.

“What’s he saying? That working-class men do this kind of thing, embarrass their wives and girlfriends and sisters and mothers? That’s unacceptable, of course that’s not the case.

“I absolutely understand about banter. I’m a mother of sons – two stepsons, two sons. But there’s a huge difference between robust chat and the kind of comment Gregg Wallace made to me.”

TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has said she was “so embarrassed” she thought she “might cry” after Gregg Wallace allegedly made a comment to her about his sex life.

Allsopp, 53, said the encounter took place several years ago in a performers’ lounge while she was filming a pilot for a TV quiz show alongside Wallace and his partner.

She told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend: “I’d been chatting to her, she left the room and he (Wallace) made a reference to something they did in bed.

“You know that feeling when you’re so embarrassed that you think you might cry. You just feel kind of internally scarlet. I had that feeling and I always remembered it.”

The Sunday Times reported that BBC executive Kate Phillips raised concerns Wallace’s behaviour was “unacceptable and cannot continue”.

The intervention came after broadcaster and former Celebrity MasterChef contestant Aasmah Mir, complained about inappropriate comments during filming.

The newspaper claimed he received another warning the following year after a complaint was raised about his behaviour on the quiz show Impossible Celebrities.

The Sunday Telegraph reported producer Georgia Harding, who worked on MasterChef between 2014 and 2015 and later Eat Well For Less, claimed she raised concerns about “inappropriate” behaviour from him while working on the show.

She alleged the presenter undressed in front of colleagues and “made inappropriate sexual jokes” in front of the crew and people appearing on the shows, and said “nothing was done” about concerns raised, claiming there was “an acceptance” of his behaviour and “nothing was done”.

Harding also said he stood “too close” to contestants on set and “spoke about sex a lot and would get changed on set even though he had a changing room”.

An anonymous woman who appeared on Eat Well For Less also claimed that Wallace stood “too close” to her, made “inappropriate” sexual comments, and said Wallace asked why guests were not laughing at his jokes, and told them they should because he was the “talent”.