Concerns were raised over Gregg Wallace’s alleged inappropriate behaviour several years ago, it’s been claimed (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
It’s been claimed concerns were raised over Gregg Wallace’s alleged inappropriate behaviour several years ago on a BBC programme, but they were reportedly ignored.
The MasterChef judge, 60, has stepped away from the show as historical allegations have come to light and are being investigated.
He is facing various accusations of making ‘inappropriate sexual jokes’, asking for the phone numbers of female members of production staff, and undressing in front of and standing ‘too close’ to women working on his shows.
It’s also claimed that he ‘mimicked sex acts’ and walked around the studio almost ‘completely naked’, with stars including the likes of Kirstie Allsopp and Ulrika Jonsson speaking out about their experiences with him.
Further allegations accuse Wallace of groping three women in different incidents on and off set.
A former producer, who previously worked on MasterChef and another BBC programme, has now said concerns were raised but ignored after Wallace allegedly undressed in front of colleagues and ‘made inappropriate sexual jokes’.
Georgia Harding, who worked on the cooking competition between 2014 and 2015, and then for Eat Well For Less, said she raised concerns about the way in which Wallace treated contributors on Eat Well For Less, but there ‘appeared to be an acceptance of his behaviour’ and ‘nothing was done’.
She told The Telegraph: ‘It was like, “Oh that’s Gregg”.’
Wallace has stepped down from MasterChef amid the investigation (Picture: BBC/Shine TV)
She claimed he appeared ‘too close’ to some contestants on set, and would ‘get changed’ there despite having a dressing room.
She also said he ‘spoke about sex a lot’ and would ‘show off his “muscles”,’ adding: ‘It made us feel uncomfortable.’
Another anonymous woman told the publication that Wallace was ‘too close’ to her on set and made ‘inappropriate’ comments about sex.
She also alleged that he once told her and other people that they should be laughing at one of his jokes because he was the ‘talent’.
In a post on Sunday, Wallace addressed the allegations, saying they came from ‘middle-class women of a certain age’.
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In a video on Instagram, he said: ‘I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years, amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef, and in that time, I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, different backgrounds, all walks of life.
‘Apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time.
‘In the newspaper, I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right.’
In a second video, he adds: ‘In 20 years, over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks, or sexual innuendo, can you imagine?’
He then claimed ‘absolutely none’ of the people he had worked with on his shows had made a complaint about him in a third Instagram video.
He’s said the allegations come from ‘middle-class women of a certain age’ (Picture: Instagram)
This comes after 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 former greengrocer was also accused of making lewd comments and asking for the personal phone numbers of female production staff in a letter that Dawn Elrick, a producer and director, claimed to have sent to the BBC in 2022.
The letter, posted on her S**t Men In TV Have Said To Me Instagram account said she had received a number of reports of ‘lewd comments’ and female production staff being ‘made to feel uncomfortable about being asked for their personal numbers’, and asked to speak to Wallace while he was topless.
Several people have made allegations against the presenter (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX)
Elrick told the Observer, the letter had been submitted with the support of industry union Bectu, and added she also submitted the allegations to the corporation via Navex Global, an external whistleblowing service.
She claimed the BBC suggested each individual would have to make their own, direct complaint to the corporation, and said she had received no further contact with regards to the report.
Wallace’s lawyers say ‘it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature’.
In response to the letter, a BBC spokesperson said it had ‘robust processes’ to deal with complaints ‘swiftly and appropriately’ and added it ‘will always listen if people want to make us aware of something directly’.
Further accusations were levelled against the TV presenter on Friday in publications including The Sun about other alleged behaviour, while several other stars have spoken out.
An investigation is underway (Picture: BBC/Shine TV)
Celebrity MasterChef contestant Emma Kennedy claimed she witnessed Wallace groping a camera assistant during a 2012 photo shoot.
In a recent statement, she said: ‘They knew then. They knew before then and they’ve known since.’
Kennedy said the photographer had a ‘young female assistant’ who was ‘bent over’ while dealing with equipment. She went on to say how he ‘took this as an opportunity to feel her arse. I told him it was inappropriate, I informed production.’
After refusing to return to the show, she claims that she complained but ‘nothing was said, nothing was done.’
Former contestant Dr Kate Tomas has also accused him of sexual harassment while she was on MasterChef in 2008.
Allegations were also raised by staff members about Wallace’s behaviour on Channel 5’s Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends to BBC News, with producer Rumpus Media saying it would be investigating allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’.
Metro has approached the BBC for comment.
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