Wallace is facing a number of historical allegations of misconduct
Gregg Wallace allegedly once walked into the MasterChef studio “completely naked except for a sock over his penis,” according to a female member of staff who worked with him.
On Thursday, it was announced that Wallace would be stepping away from MasterChef after almost 20 years whilst an investigation is carried out into allegations of historic misconduct.
This was followed by a report from BBC News which detailed claims from 13 people, including broadcaster Kirsty Wark, about Wallace’s conduct from 2005 to 2022 on a variety of shows.
Some celebs have come forward with their own claims about Wallace’s behaviour on Celebrity MasterChef, whilst other allegations have been made by people who worked with him.
One of the claims has come from an anonymous female staff member who worked with Wallace on MasterChef. According to the Telegraph, she wrote in a letter to the BBC that the presenter once walked into the MasterChef studio “completely naked except for a sock pulled over his penis” before doing a “silly dance.”
She said the incident left staff “hugely unsettled.”
The woman also told the Telegraph of another alleged incident when Wallace asked her to clean a stain off his trousers after mimicking a sex act.
She claimed Wallace held the back of her head and thrust his body towards her, an incident she described as “distressing.”
The woman wrote in her letter to the BBC that Wallace was “very touchy-feely” and made “disgusting sex-related jokes.”
In a statement on Thursday, Banijay, the production company behind the MasterChef programmes, said Wallace was co-operating with their investigation into the historic allegations.
His lawyers have said it is entirely false that the presenter engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
In a video on Instagram posted on Thursday night, Wallace thanked “all the people getting in touch, reaching out and showing their support.”
“It’s good of you – thank you very much,” he said.
Speaking to BBC News, former Newsnight presenter Wark claimed Wallace told “sexualised” jokes during her time on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011.
She said there were two occasions on which Wallace relayed stories and jokes of a “sexualised nature” in front of contestants and crew.
Wark said she felt the alleged comments were “really, really in the wrong place.”
Meanwhile, Sir Rod Stewart took to social media to accuse Wallace of “humiliating” his wife Penny Lancaster during filming of Celebrity MasterChef.
In a post on Instagram, he described the presenter as a “tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully,” adding: “Karma got ya.”
Wallace has featured on various BBC shows during his career, including Saturday Kitchen, Eat Well For Less, Supermarket Secrets, Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals, and was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2014.
He was made an MBE for services to food and charity last year.
A BBC spokesman said: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.
“We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated.
“Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them.”
