Gregg Wallace has broken his silence after he was reportedly hit by a probe into his behaviour by the BBC. The MasterChef star was allegedly accused of inappropriate sexual comments to a female BBC staffer while appearing on Impossible Celebrities.
According to the Sun, the TV personality faced complaints about his behaviour back in 2018 as he reportedly took off his top and bragged about his sexual encounters. In 2023, he was allegedly also accused of being rude and insulting to women on a different show, Inside The Factory. Wallace disputed this.
Now taking to Instagram, the host said to his 195,000 followers: “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.”
After a string of recent controversies, including BBC newsreader Huw Edwards pleading guilty to indecent images of children and Strictly Come Dancing professionals being investigated over their training regimes, the broadcasters is now reportedly under fire as to why the 59-year-old was kept on despite its vow to clean up its workplace culture.
A source told the Sun: “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.”
They alleged: “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 mortified and told BBC top brass what had happened.”
The source claimed that Wallace was instructed to change his behaviour by his employers, as they took “immediate action”. They said: “The BBC took immediate action and Gregg was called in to have a meeting with them.
“He made it clear that he didn’t mean anything by what he said but he was read the riot act and told to change his behaviour.”