MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace has faced several controversies over the years (Picture: Channel 4)
MasterChef star Gregg Wallace has courted controversy over the years for a range of reasons.
The presenter, 60, is best known for co-presenting MasterChef, Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals.
However, he is now stepping down from the franchise after the BBC announced it was investigating historical allegations of misconduct against him.
It comes after Wallace was accused of making inappropriate sexual comments to a female member of staff including boasting about his sex life and taking his top off in front of another employee in 2018.
He was also accused of being rude and insulting to women on a different programme last year.
The BBC received complaints from people who had worked with Wallace, saying it took the allegations ‘seriously’.
This isn’t the first time Wallace, who previously denied the claims against him, has come under the spotlight, with several other controversies unfolding in the past.
Thinking he deserves a statue in Trafalgar Square for ‘saving the nation’
He’s claimed he ‘saved the nation’ from obesity (Picture: BBC/ Shine TV)
Earlier this year Wallace suggested he deserved significant recognition for ‘saving the nation’ from obesity.
After spending years campaigning for the public to improve their eating habits, the presenter said he was hopeful his efforts could earn him a statue in London’s Trafalgar Square.
During an appearance on the Monday Mile with Aimee Fuller podcast, he boasted: ‘[All] I do is teach them to cook. And I have had such extraordinary successes.
‘I’ve got one lady, she’s like a pin-up girl for me. She’s lost 12 stone in two years. She’s basically lost two Gregg Wallaces!’
Although he admitted his work filled him with an ‘immense sense of purpose’ he still held grave concerns.
‘I’m also nervous for the nation, I’m nervous for the NHS, and the cost to the nation of rising obesity, heart disease, cancers, kidney issues, liver issues, knee joints, hip joints, fertility issues, and the cost to the NHS of picking up the bill and trying to cope with a nation that’s making itself more and more unwell on a week by week basis through its food choices. Didn’t expect this about me, did you?
‘Your grandchildren are going to drive past Trafalgar Square one day and there’s going to be a statue of Gregg Wallace in a toga holding a pineapple because he saved the nation.’
Accusations of being a ‘bad dad’
He was accused of being a ‘bad dad’ earlier this year (Picture: Gregg Wallace/ Instagram)
At the start of the year Wallace also drew the ire of many after a column about his weekend routine saw him branded a ‘bad dad’.
Explaining his Saturday morning routine in the Telegraph Magazine, Wallace explained it involved going to the gym – where staff let him in ahead of everyone else – heading to the local Harvester for breakfast and his wife having lunch ‘ready on the table’ when he returned home.
He also admitted that having his youngest child, four-year-old Sid, as an older father in his 50s ‘isn’t something that I would have chosen at my age’.
Wallace then went on to explain how he spent 90 minutes playing with his son.
Soon after the presenter revealed he was ‘close to tears’, responding to the backlash and saying it was ‘unfair’, especially accusations he didn’t spend enough time with his child and that Sid was ‘unwanted’.
Labelling the interview ‘innocent’, Wallace urged people to remember he was human and had been left ‘deeply saddened’ by the reaction.
‘Boasting’ about his slim figure
Wallace previously came under fire for speaking about he and wife Anne-Marie Sterpini’s slim figures (Picture: Rex/ Shutterstock)
A decision by Wallace to reveal he and wife Anne-Marie Sterpini, 36, ‘don’t diet’ last year was slammed by many.
While promoting his lifestyle plan, he revealed his exact weight in an Instagram post, running through their approach to food and health.
In 2017 Wallace overhauled his lifestyle and lost five stone after a doctor warned him that he was at great risk of a life-threatening heart attack.
In the years since he’s encouraged his fans to also priorities their health but his message in September, which was shared alongside a photo of the couple in their swimwear, was called ‘bragging’ by some’.
He’s posted several shirtless photos to show off his weight loss progress (Picture: Gregg Wallace/ Instagram)
‘We are slim and well, the pair of us. I weigh just over 12 stone. We don’t diet, in fact we eat big meals every day!’ Gregg captioned the post.
‘Anna has never been in a gym,’ he added.
‘What we’ve learned is how to eat healthily, not be hungry, not willpower and not portion control!
‘I’ve helped hundreds of people, and I can help you too.’
Some disgruntled followers then went on to call out what they branded his ‘privilege’.
Shocking viewers with a documentary about ‘cannibalism’
His The British Miracle Meat faced hundreds of complaints to Ofcom (Picture: Ken McKay/ ITV/ Rex/ Shutterstock)
Although Wallace might have sampled many unusual dishes over the years during his time on MasterChef, a ‘human meat’ mockumentary wasn’t stomached well last year.
The Channel 4 programme The British Miracle Meat saw him visit a factory that ‘harvested human cells to produce burgers and steak’ at budget price points to beat the cost-of-living crisis.
Viewers were appalled as scientist were shown developing a new range of ‘premium’ products, made from the ’tissue of children under the age of six’ and called ‘toddler tartare’.
Despite the fact it was a satirical show, hundreds submitted complaints to Ofcom, with one furious viewer saying it was ‘disgusting’.
Speaking out in defence of the programme, Wallace said it ‘raised important questions about the nation’s relationship with food and what those struggling with the cost of living are being asked to do in order to stay afloat’.
He went on to explain the team behind it consulted with experts to ‘make sure what we were saying reflected what is actually happening and didn’t wander into the realms of science fiction’ but that if we didn’t start to tackle the cost of food and eat more healthily ‘the prospect of human meat on the menu might not seem so far-fetched after all’.
Snubbing a cancer charity because his name was misspelt
Just over a decade ago he criticised a follower for spelling his name wrong (Picture: Ken McKay/ Rex/ Shutterstock)
In 2013 Wallace was lambasted for shutting down a request to help promote fundraising for a cancer charity.
At the time a member of the public shared this request on Twitter: ‘Hi Greg. I am cycling just over 180 miles in two days for Macmillan Cancer Support. Any chance of a retweet?’
Instead of expressing an interest in helping, he replied with one word, correcting the spelling of his name: ‘Gregg?’
Hitting back, the original poster told the presenter to ‘not worry mate’.
‘It’s only people with cancer. You worry about your extra G.’
On his blog soon after Wallace expressed his annoyance with people spelling his name incorrectly, which had happened for ‘as long as I can remember’.
‘I didn’t refuse to help him, I just thought it was polite that if he was asking me for something, he should at least get my name right,’ he wrote.
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