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‘Groping’ and ‘touching’: Fresh claims against Gregg Wallace

Wallace stepped aside from presenting MasterChef last week

MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace is facing fresh allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour after he stepped down from the show last week.

One woman says he touched her bottom at an event and another says he pressed his crotch against her while filming on a different show.

We put the allegations to Wallace’s representatives on Saturday. On Tuesday, the BBC said it was pulling its MasterChef Christmas specials.

His lawyers have strongly denied he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.

‘I wasn’t ok about it’

Wallace stepped aside from presenting MasterChef last week after a BBC News investigation revealed allegations of inappropriate sexual comments and inappropriate behaviour against him.

He has not responded to the latest allegations.

Lisa, not her real name, worked on the BBC show Eat Well For Less in 2015.

She described an incident when, she says, he “touched [her] inappropriately” when they were filming in a supermarket.

“He brushed past me at the checkout, and touched my bum with his waist and penis and laughed and said “oooh you liked that didn’t you”,” she said.

“It was the way he reacted, other people would’ve said “oh I’m sorry can I squeeze by” which would’ve been ok.”

Lisa says that at the time, she felt like she had to “get on” with work.

“But I wasn’t ok about it. When I finished the shoot, I felt it was slimy, disgusting. He just didn’t need to touch my body, it made me uncomfortable.”

Lisa says she raised it with a more senior colleague, but nothing got done.

“In hindsight, now, I would’ve escalated it further, as a stronger independent woman in television. But when you’re working your way up, your voice isn’t heard- you don’t feel like you can take on a powerful person.”

We’ve spoken to her best friend, who we’re calling Jane. Jane says Lisa told her about the incident at the time, and it “really took a toll on her”.

“But I think she felt she had to just brush it off,” she added.

Production company Banijay UK says it has no record of this incident being raised at RDF Television, which produced Eat Well For Less.

‘I was shocked’

Anna, not her real name, worked on MasterChef in 2015.

She says she was called to his dressing room on one occasion, to fix his bow tie for an after work event.

When she started fastening his bow tie, she says she noticed his trousers were “partially lowered”. She did not see how this happened.

“His pubic hair was on show, where you can see the top part of his penis, and he was wearing no boxers underneath.”

Anna says no apology was offered. Instead, she says, “he stared at me”, in a way that felt like “a power play”.

“I was shocked, I felt embarrassed by the whole thing.”

Anna says she exited the room within a matter of seconds, and immediately mentioned it to colleagues in production, who then escalated it.

She says that the production company Shine presented her with an option to take it further, but she did not.

“I didn’t want to be seen to be making a fuss, especially early in my career, whereas now, I have way more boundaries of what I will or won’t do,” she said.

She says it was agreed she wouldn’t have to go to Wallace’s dressing room anymore. But she still felt “anxious” on the job.

“I was dropping the ball on my duties because I was nervous around him. Shortly after, I left.

“Looking back, I wish I’d said something more at the time.”

Banijay, who own Shine, say senior producers spoke at length to Anna, establishing the door was open during the incident, and that she said during this conversation that she did not feel “threatened” at any point.

They say the issue was also raised with the BBC.

‘Totally unwanted’

Another allegation has come from a woman who says she encountered Wallace while working at an event in 2022.

The woman, who we are calling Sarah, says that at the end of the event, Wallace asked her to take him to the car park.

“As we walked down, he started putting his arm around me, saying ‘go on, hold my hand, don’t you want to stand next to me’,” she said.

“It was totally out of the blue, and totally unwanted.”

Sarah says they then went into a lift where he pulled her, and other members of his group, into a group hug.

“When doing this, he put his hand on my bottom and groped me. It made me feel gross, it was horrible.”

Sarah says she hasn’t been able to watch him on TV since. “I can’t bear to look at his face,” she said.

“I feel sad that so many people are coming forward, but also glad people are speaking up.”

‘Amazing competition’

A BBC News investigation last week heard from 13 people spanning a range of ages, who worked across five different programmes, who made allegations of inappropriate sexual comments.

Production company Banijay UK said it has launched an investigation, with which Wallace was co-operating, while the BBC has said it will “always listen if people want to make us aware of something directly”.

People who have come forward with allegations against Wallace include former BBC Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark, who said he told stories and jokes of a “sexualised nature” in front of contestants and crew when she was on Celebrity MasterChef.

Other allegations we have heard include Wallace talking openly about his sex life, taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to “give her a fashion show”, and telling a junior female colleague he wasn’t wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans.

On Monday, the BBC came under mounting pressure to consider pausing MasterChef while Wallace is investigated.

Rupa Huq MP, who is a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said the continued broadcast of MasterChef could be “triggering” for the women involved.

The BBC confirmed later in the day that all MasterChef episodes filmed would be aired as planned, including the Christmas specials.

But on Tuesday, in a change of position, it was revealed that the festive specials will now no longer be aired.

A BBC spokesperson said: “As we have said, MasterChef is an amazing competition which is life-changing for the chefs taking part and the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals is continuing as planned.

“The celebrity Christmas specials are obviously a different type of show and in the current circumstances we have decided not to broadcast them.”

It is understood the celebrity contestants involved in the Christmas special are being spoken to about the reasons behind the decision to pull the show.

The first, a Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off, featured The Wanted singer Max George, Emmerdale actor Amy Walsh, reality star Luca Bish and comedian Shazia Mirza.

The second, called MasterChef Meets Strictly Festive Extravaganza, was due to feature Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden, Gorka Marquez, Kai Widdrington and Nancy Xu, with Motsi Mabuse setting a challenge.

Three repeats of an old series of Inside the Factory will no longer be shown on BBC Two in the lead up to Christmas, the BBC spokesperson said.

There will no changes to iPlayer content.

‘I need to take time out’

It comes after Wallace apologised for suggesting allegations against him came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.

In the video shared on Sunday, the MasterChef presenter said there had been “13 complaints” from “over 4,000 contestants” he had worked with in 20 years on the BBC One show.

His comments caused a backlash, with a Downing Street spokesperson describing them as “inappropriate and misogynistic”.

In a new video posted on his Instagram story on Monday, he said: “I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday, and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.

“I wasn’t in a good head space when I posted it. I’ve been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion, I felt very alone, under siege, yesterday, when I posted it.”

He concluded: “It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out while this investigation is under way. I hope you understand and I do hope that you will accept this apology.”

Positive memories of Wallace

Wallace has re-posted comments on social media from former contestants who said they had positive memories of working with him.

Some workers have also spoken of more positive experiences with Wallace.

One former worker on Inside the Factory told the BBC he made a lot of “dad jokes” but it never went beyond that.

A former MasterChef worker said nothing during her time there was concerning. Another said she didn’t feel there was any malice to his comments, although she understood why some people may have felt uncomfortable.

We offered Wallace an opportunity for an interview but he has not responded.

We put the latest allegations to Banijay UK, the production company behind MasterChef and Eat Well for Less.

It said it “takes this matter incredibly seriously but while the external investigation is ongoing, we won’t be commenting on individual allegations”.

“It is important to note, that MasterChef welfare processes are regularly adapted and strengthened and there are clear protocols to support both crew and contributors. These include multiple ways of reporting issues, including anonymously. HR contact details are promoted, and contributors are assigned a point of contact on set available to discuss any issues or concerns.”

A BBC spokesperson 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.

“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on anything that could form part of Banijay’s ongoing investigation or otherwise influence it.”