Television host Gregg Wallace has been accused of making “lesbian jokes constantly” by a woman who worked on a travel show with him.
The woman, who we are calling Anna, said he was “fascinated” by the fact she dated women and asked her the “logistics” of how it worked. She is one of a number of workers across a range of shows who came to BBC News with claims about the TV presenter.
On Thursday, MasterChef’s production company said Wallace is to step away from presenting the show while allegations of historical misconduct are investigated.
Wallace’s lawyers say it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. Masterchef’s production company Banijay UK has launched an investigation and said Wallace is co-operating.
Other allegations the BBC has heard are that Wallace talked about spanking and threesomes in front of crew.
In a video posted on Instagram on Thursday evening, Wallace said: “I would like to thank all the people getting in touch, reaching out and showing their support.
“It’s good of you – thank you very much.”
Warning – this article contains distressing content
Anna worked on Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends in 2019. She told us that Wallace regularly talked about sex, and about domination and spanking.
“[It] was highly inappropriate,” she said.
She says he also constantly made comments about her sexual orientation, including when he met her partner.
“I date women and Gregg Wallace was fascinated by that,” she said.
She added that he asked her if she was “sure” she didn’t want to date men.
‘I refused to work with him again’
Another woman, who we are calling Georgina, worked on the BBC’s Eat Well For Less TV show with Wallace in 2019.
She says he would constantly say inappropriate things to her, such as making comments that his wife was only two years older than her.
“It made me uncomfortable,” she said. “What am I meant to say in response to that?”
On another occasion, she says she had to go to Wallace’s car to sort out his parking ticket for him.
She asked him if that was OK, to which he allegedly responded: “You can come to my car, but can you handle the fact everyone will think you just got off with a celebrity?”
Both Georgina, and her colleague, who we’re calling Lisa, also say he came out of a bathroom topless in front of them once during a shoot and asked them to take his coffee order.
“[Wallace’s] behaviour isn’t acceptable,” Lisa said.
“To not only continue to put women in these scenarios but to continue publicly platforming him is a disgrace to our industry standards.”
Georgina said she refused to work on a show with him afterwards.
‘He said he was giving me a fashion show’
Another young female worker, who the BBC is calling Amanda, highlighted two experiences with Wallace while filming the Channel 5 show, Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends, in 2019.
The first, she said, was when they were travelling together by car. She said he took out his phone and showed her photos of a woman in her underwear.
A second time, she said they had just finished filming in Italy and she took him back to his hotel room.
She said he started showing them his outfits for the next day, and then took off his top and said “let me give you a fashion show”.
A male colleague was initially in the room, but she said he then left, leaving her alone with Wallace.
She said she still remembers the Millwall tattoo on his chest and that she found the hotel room experience very uncomfortable.
“It’s weird to be alone in a room with a topless stranger.”
BBC News, which is editorially independent from the wider organisation, started investigating Wallace in the summer, after becoming aware of allegations. The claims we have heard are from 13 people, across five shows, from 2005 to 2022.
One of them was the broadcaster Kirsty Wark, a Celebrity MasterChef contestant in 2011, who said he told “sexualised” jokes during filming.
On Tuesday, we sent a letter to Wallace’s representatives setting out allegations we have heard.
Two days later, it was announced that Wallace is to step away from presenting MasterChef pending an investigation.
Since then, more people have come forward with allegations about the presenter.
Writing on Instagram on Thursday, singer Sir Rod Stewart described Wallace as an “ill-mannered bully”, and said the presenter “humiliated” his wife when she was on MasterChef in 2021.
BBC News has asked Wallace’s representatives for a comment on Sir Rod’s post.
Other claims made to BBC News include:
- A female worker on MasterChef in 2019, who said Wallace talked about his sex life and asked her if her new boyfriend had a nice bottom
- A female worker on the BBC Good Food Show in 2010, who said Wallace stared at her chest
- A female worker on Eat Well For Less in 2019, who said Wallace told her he wasn’t wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans
- A male worker on MasterChef in 2005-06, who said Wallace regularly said sexually explicit things on set. He said Wallace once said a dish tasted like his aunt’s vagina, and on another occasion, asked a female runner if she put her finger up her boyfriend’s bottom
- A male worker who worked on Big Weekends and other travel shows between 2019 and 2022, who says Wallace talked about threesomes with prostitutes and said he “loves spanking” multiple times a day
One of Britain’s biggest trade unions says it was aware of allegations about Wallace’s behaviour.
“I’d like to say I’m surprised by these reports, but… I guess my reaction is it was a matter of when, not if these stories started to emerge,” Philippa Childs, head of Bectu, told BBC News.
She said it was difficult for freelancers to be able to make complaints because of the precarious nature of the industry.
“They’re always concerned about where their next job is coming from or indeed are they going to be able to establish themselves in the industry,” she said.
“So there is quite a tendency not to report, to feel that it’s not safe to report, to feel that even if they do report, the production company or the broadcaster are not going to take them seriously and are not going to take action because of the power that people on screen might hold.”
Powerful people ‘get away with it’
The allegations come at a difficult time for the BBC.
In October, the BBC announced details of a review into preventing abuses of power, in the wake of revelations about Huw Edwards, formerly its most senior news presenter, who committed offences involving child abuse images.
In November, BBC Chair Samir Shah said in a speech that there “continues to be a sense that powerful people ‘get away with it’.”
One MasterChef worker we spoke to, who we’re calling Claire, thinks that how the industry responds to allegations is at the root of the problem.
“We should be getting better at dealing with this, we should be getting better at shutting things down, and not allowing celebrity or fame or power to embolden people to think they can act like that, and treat people really poorly.”
Announcing its investigation on Thursday, Banijay UK, which produces MasterChef, said in a statement: “This week the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with presenter Gregg Wallace on one of our shows.”
Wallace, 60, is “committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”, it added.
Banijay’s statement concluded by encouraging anyone who wanted to raise any issues or concerns to come forward.
A BBC spokesman said: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.”
A spokesman for Channel 5, which airs Big Weekends, said: “We take any allegations of this nature extremely seriously.
“We have asked the production company to look into these historical claims. The health and wellbeing of everyone involved in our productions is very important to us and we want all of our productions to be safe and secure places for people to work.”
Production company Rumpus, which produces Big Weekends, said: “We do not tolerate inappropriate behaviour on our productions.
“Our comprehensive duty of care processes were in place during production of these series and any matters raised would have been investigated in accordance with these.”
Have you been affected by issues covered in this story? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk