Gregg Wallace says accusations made by ‘middle-class women of a certain age’

The presenter faces various allegations 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.

But in a post on Instagram on Sunday, the 60-year-old said: “I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years, amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef, and I think, in that time, I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life.

“Apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time.

“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 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?”

In a third video, Wallace claimed “absolutely none” of the people he had worked with on his shows had made a complaint about him.

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 Sunday Telegraph reported producer Georgia Harding, who worked on MasterChef between 2014 and 2015 and later Eat Well For Less, claimed she raised concerns about “inappropriate” behaviour from him while working on the show.

She alleged the presenter undressed in front of colleagues and “made inappropriate sexual jokes” in front of the crew and people appearing on the shows, and said “nothing was done” about concerns raised, claiming there was “an acceptance” of his behaviour and “nothing was done”.

Harding also said he stood “too close” to contestants on set and “spoke about sex a lot and would get changed on set even though he had a changing room”.

An anonymous woman who appeared on Eat Well For Less also claimed that Wallace stood “too close” to her, made “inappropriate” sexual comments, and said Wallace asked why guests were not laughing at his jokes, and told them they should because he was the “talent”.

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 Shit 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.

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 news outlets such as The Sun about other alleged behaviour.

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”.

It comes after it was announced Wallace is to step away from the BBC cooking show while historical misconduct complaints are externally reviewed by MasterChef producer Banijay UK.

He also faces allegations of inappropriate sexual comments from 13 people across a range of shows over a 17-year period, as reported by BBC News, which said it sent a letter to the TV star’s representatives earlier this week.

The production company confirmed on Saturday that it has appointed law firm Lewis Silkin to lead an investigation into Wallace’s alleged behaviour.