Gregg Wallace’s friends have claimed that the former MasterChef star’s autism diagnosis is partly to blame for his inappropriate behaviour.
The 60-year-old former greengrocer was this week sacked from the BBC cooking show amid an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct during his time as a presenter.
It was this week revealed that 50 more people had approached the broadcaster with claims about the TV presenter.
Wallace faced accusations of making ‘inappropriate sexual jokes’ and lewd comments on set, asking for the phone numbers of female members of production staff, as well as undressing in front of and standing ‘too close’ to women working on his shows.
The longtime presenter strongly denies any serious misconduct, including accusations of groping.
He has admitted that his behaviour may have been misinterpreted and attributes much of it to social misunderstandings stemming from his autism, which he was only formally diagnosed with recently.
Friends close to Wallace have now doubled down on those claims, adding that his ‘autistic hypersensitivity’ meant that he had a ‘oddity of filters and boundaries’.
In claims made to The Times, those close to the TV presenter have referred to his ‘inability to wear underwear because of his autistic hypersensitivity to labels and tight clothing’.
The report is set to be published in the coming days. Those same sources have claimed the complaints mostly relate to inappropriate language and are dated before 2018, at which point he changed his behaviour.
‘He stopped going out with the team and stopped telling jokes because he realised he didn’t know what was right and what crossed the line,’ a friend told the publication.
A spokesperson for the National Autistic Society told Metro: ‘Every autistic person is different, just like every non-autistic person is different, so it is important not to generalise or make judgements based on the actions, words or behaviour of any one individual.’
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Wallace, who has been a staple of the BBC’s food programming for nearly two decades, claims that his dismissal amounts to workplace discrimination, and sources close to the presenter say he is seeking legal redress under disability rights protections.
The BBC has not yet publicly commented on the potential lawsuit or the findings of the internal review, which are expected to outline a pattern of behaviour deemed inappropriate by production staff over several years.
After BBC News revealed that 50 more individuals had spoken out against Wallace, the TV presenter took to social media to respond.
He wrote on Instagram: ‘After 21 years of loyal service to the BBC, I cannot sit in silence while my reputation is further damaged to protect others.
‘I have now been cleared by the Silkins report of the most serious and sensational accusations made against me.
‘The most damaging claims (including allegations from public figures which have not been upheld) were found to be baseless after a full and forensic six-month investigation.
‘My decision to go public now is also driven by the fact the BBC News division are intending to platform legally unsafe accusations, including claims which have already been investigated and not upheld by the BBC and found not credible by Silkins.’
Wallace continued: ‘To be clear, the Silkin’s Report exonerates me of all the serious allegations which made headlines last year and finds me primarily guilty of inappropriate language between 2005 and 2018.
‘I recognise that some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate. For that, I apologise without reservation. But I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks.’
Metro contacted the BBC for comment. A BBC spokesperson said: ‘Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace. We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published.’
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