MasterChef host sacked as 50 more people make claims

Noor Nanji & Felicity BakerCulture reportersBBC/Shine TVGregg Wallace has been some of the high-profile presenters on British tv for 20 yearsGregg Wallace has been sacked as MasterChef presenter because of an inquiry into alleged misconduct, BBC Information understands.It comes as 50 extra folks have approached the BBC with contemporary claims in regards to the TV presenter – together with allegations he groped one MasterChef employee and pulled his trousers down in entrance of one other. Wallace denies the claims.The inquiry into allegations towards him, carried out by an unbiased regulation agency on behalf of MasterChef’s manufacturing firm Banijay, is anticipated again imminently.In a prolonged assertion on Instagram on Tuesday, Wallace claimed he had been cleared by that report of “essentially the most critical and sensational allegations” made towards him.”I recognise that a few of my humour and language, at instances, was inappropriate. For that, I apologise with out reservation. However I used to be by no means the caricature now being bought for clicks,” he wrote.He accused BBC Information of “uncorroborated tittle tattle” in its reporting.BBC Information has not seen the Banijay report.For 20 years, Gregg Wallace has been some of the high-profile presenters on British tv and the face of BBC One cooking present MasterChef.However he stepped apart from the present in November after our preliminary investigation on the finish of final yr, when 13 folks accused him of creating inappropriate sexual feedback.The brand new claims come from individuals who say they encountered him throughout a spread of exhibits and settings.Whereas the bulk say he made inappropriate sexual feedback, 11 girls accuse him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, akin to groping and touching.The allegations increase contemporary questions for the BBC and the opposite firms he labored for about their safeguarding practices and responsibility of care.All names have been modified for this text.One lady, Alice, says Wallace took his trousers down in entrance of her in a dressing room, in what she described as “disgusting and predatory” behaviour.One other, Sophie, says she was left feeling “completely horrified” and “fairly sick” when he groped her.Different individuals who contacted us with new claims in regards to the presenter embody:A participant on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen – a present on the time that was produced in-house by the BBC – who says that, throughout a dinner forward of filming in 2002, Wallace put his hand beneath the desk and onto her groin, saying: “Do you want that?”A college pupil who says she met him in a nightclub with pals in 2013. She says after she requested to take a photograph with him, he reached beneath her skirt and grabbed and pinched her bottomA lady who says, at an trade ball in 2014, he put his hand up her costume and groped herAnother junior employee, along with Alice, who says in 2012 he dropped his trousers in entrance of her and wasn’t carrying underwear Quite a few males who say they witnessed Wallace making inappropriate sexual commentsMore current claims, together with a 19-year-old MasterChef employee who says she tried to complain about Wallace’s feedback about her physique in 2022, and a former policeman who says he tried to boost considerations about Wallace’s sexually inappropriate language to the BBC in 2023Many of the ladies who spoke to us are younger feminine freelancers.They are saying they did not really feel in a position to complain about Wallace’s behaviour on the time, fearing damaging profession repercussions.’You are not being Jimmy Saviled’Alice, nonetheless, advised us she did increase considerations – however mentioned they have been dismissed.She labored on MasterChef between 2011 and 2013 when she was in her 20s. On the time, the present was produced by Shine, an organization now owned by Banijay.She recollects an event when, she says, Wallace requested her into his dressing room, saying he wanted assist getting right into a black-tie outfit.He pushed her down onto a settee, she says, pulled his trousers down and advised her he wasn’t carrying any underwear. Alice says she tried to avert her eyes.She instantly reported what had occurred, she says, however was advised by a senior member of Shine’s manufacturing crew: “You are over 16, you are not being ‘Jimmy Saviled’.”Alice says she felt let down by the corporate and was given the impression that, in a “lowly position as a manufacturing employee”, she ought to simply “be grateful and get on with it”.She has contributed to the Banijay inquiry, and says she hopes it results in accountability.Getty ImagesIn a current interview with the Every day Mail, Wallace mentioned the claims towards him have been “not all true” and he had felt “beneath assault”The second lady who claims Wallace pulled his trousers down in entrance of her, Anna, labored on a photograph shoot with him in 2012.He took off his trousers once they have been alone collectively in a dressing room space, she says, and he or she might see he was not carrying any underwear.Anna says she regarded away, however felt she couldn’t do something as she was holding his garments for him to alter into. She says he then obtained modified and he or she left shortly afterwards.All through the shoot, in addition to making lewd, sexually inappropriate feedback, she says Wallace was very “touchy-feely”. As an illustration, when she went on set to regulate the way in which his garments regarded, she says he would say, “Oh please do are available, I like it whenever you do this” after which seize her hips and squeeze her.She says the entire expertise made her really feel “undermined”.Like the opposite girls we spoke to, Anna says she felt she couldn’t make a grievance as a result of she was comparatively junior and wanted the job.She is talking up now as a result of, she says, she was livid about Wallace’s Instagram video final yr, wherein he claimed the allegations towards him had come from “a handful of middle-class girls of a sure age”.”Is he saying it was OK to behave that method with youthful girls, like I used to be on the time?” she says.’A full-handed squeeze’Sophie, one other younger employee on MasterChef, recollects being groped by the presenter at a wrap celebration on the finish of the 2013 collection.On the time, the present was produced by Shine.She says she was standing on the bar speaking to Wallace and his co-host John Torode. As she was about to go away, she says: “Somebody squeezed my bum, a full-handed squeeze. I rotated and it was Gregg.”It was carried out “covertly”, Sophie says, so she does not suppose anybody else seen, together with Torode.She says she didn’t pursue a grievance as a result of she feared that being a junior member of the crew, “possibilities have been, I might be booted off the manufacturing, and he might have solely obtained a scalding”.Sophie has additionally contributed to the Banijay inquiry.A number of new allegations occurred away from tv – one in all them within the mid-to-late 2000s in Nottingham throughout a ebook tour.Publicist Esther describes an incident when she says Wallace pushed his method into her lodge room, took off his garments, after which requested her: “Precisely what’s it that you just do?”She says she was shocked and made it clear she was not , telling him: “That is not a part of my job.”However fairly than leaving the room, she says he climbed into her mattress and fell asleep. She did not know what to do, she says, as she was fearful that if she requested the lodge for an additional room, she would probably appeal to damaging publicity for Wallace. So she determined to sleep on the fringe of the mattress, along with her garments on.When he awakened, says Esther, Wallace put his hand on her backside and commented that she had a “good arse”. She says she advised him to get out of her room, which he did.Esther needs she had made a proper grievance on the time, however says she didn’t as a result of he was an essential writer, and he or she did not need to rock the boat. Nevertheless, she has now contributed to the Banijay inquiry.’It isn’t banter’On Tuesday, Wallace wrote a prolonged Instagram put up wherein he mentioned the “most damaging claims” towards him “have been discovered to be baseless after a full and forensic six month investigation”.”To be clear, the Silkin’s Report [sic] exonerates me of all the intense allegations which made headlines final yr and finds me primarily responsible of inappropriate language between 2005 and 2008.”He added: “I can’t go quietly. I can’t be cancelled for comfort. I used to be tried by media and frolicked to dry properly earlier than the info have been established.”He accused the BBC of “peddling baseless and sensationalised gossip masquerading as correctly corroborated tales”.Within the days after BBC Information revealed its authentic investigation final November, Wallace re-posted feedback on social media from former MasterChef contestants who mentioned they’d optimistic recollections of working with him.Some readers have additionally been in contact with us to defend Wallace, saying his alleged feedback have been simply “jokes” and “banter”.However others disagree.One of many males who contacted us was a cameraman who says he witnessed Wallace asking a feminine employee if she had “any pals with good tits like yours”.The cameraman labored on the BBC present Eat Effectively For Much less in 2016. The present was produced by RDF TV, which is a part of the Banijay group.He says he heard Wallace make a string of different inappropriate feedback in full earshot of the manufacturing crew, together with asking one feminine director, who was homosexual, about her “lesbian clothes”.”It isn’t banter, it is not how it’s best to behave in knowledgeable office,” says the cameraman.Sophie – who says Wallace groped her – believes the presenter has been protected for too lengthy.”Gregg’s time has come. However essentially the most senior management who’ve clearly heard these testimonies through the years and never chosen to take away him sooner, also needs to resign,” she says.”And each them and the BBC ought to think about why a presenter being in put up is extra essential than the wellbeing and remedy of the folks making the collection.”‘Too many cultures of silence’The allegations towards Wallace final yr kickstarted a nationwide dialogue about office behaviour, with the tradition secretary warning there have been “too many cultures of silence”.Talking to MPs in December, Lisa Nandy warned she was “ready to take additional motion” if the media trade couldn’t tackle claims of misconduct.Human rights barrister Baroness Helena Kennedy, who chairs a brand new watchdog geared toward enhancing requirements of behaviour within the inventive industries, has advised the BBC that, for freelancers, it may be troublesome to talk up.She says they could be afraid of dropping work “if they’re seen as being somebody who’s been a complainer, or who’s raised points, particularly about stars”.Baroness Kennedy additionally warned there had been “a number of missed alternatives” to behave on dangerous behaviour.BBC Information is conscious of quite a few events when complaints about Wallace have been made. One, by the radio host Aasmah Mir, associated to Celeb MasterChef in 2017.She advised The Sunday Instances final yr that she had complained to Shine and later spoke to the BBC’s Kate Phillips who was then controller for leisure commissioning.Based on inner emails seen by the newspaper, Phillips advised Wallace his behaviour had been “unacceptable and can’t proceed”.One other grievance from a gaggle of younger employees only a yr afterwards, involved Wallace’s time on the BBC present Inconceivable Celebrities, which is made by a distinct manufacturing firm.In a letter from 2018, seen by BBC Information, Phillips wrote that she had spoken to Wallace for 90 minutes to clarify what the BBC anticipated of him. She confirmed within the letter that many facets of his behaviour had been “unacceptable” and “unprofessional”.She additionally reassured employees on the programme that motion could be taken “to forestall an identical reoccurrence and to safeguard others sooner or later”.Latest allegationsBut additional claims within the years after Phillips’ dialog with Wallace have since emerged.One 19-year-old MasterChef employee says she flagged considerations about Wallace’s feedback about her physique to a extra senior member of the manufacturing employees in 2022, solely to be advised it was “only a joke”. By this date, Banijay was the corporate liable for the present.A former police officer of 30 years additionally advised us he had tried to report considerations to the BBC after, he says, he witnessed Wallace making inappropriate sexual feedback at a charity occasion in 2023.The previous officer says he reached out by way of the BBC’s on-line complaints portal and likewise tried to name by telephone, however by no means heard again.BBC Information has been advised that Kate Philips was unaware of any claims previous to 2017 or any of those subsequent claims.A current report into the BBC discovered {that a} small variety of its stars and managers “behave unacceptably” at work, and that bosses usually fail to sort out them.In response, the broadcaster mentioned it could introduce reforms, and its chairman Samir Shah mentioned he would draw “a line within the sand”.We’ve got repeatedly approached Wallace for an interview however he has not responded.In April, he gave an interview to the Every day Mail wherein he mentioned the claims towards him have been “not all true” and that he had felt “beneath assault” and contemplated suicide.He admitted that a few of the inappropriate jokes have been “in all probability true”, saying: “A few of what’s been mentioned sounds just like the type of feedback I might have made.”However he insisted he had by no means groped any employees, calling these claims “completely not true”.PA MediaMasterChef co-host John Torode pictured with Grace Dent, who has stepped in to host the following collection of Celeb MasterChefIn response to the most recent allegations, a spokesperson for Wallace mentioned: “Gregg continues to co-operate totally with the continued Banijay UK evaluate and as beforehand acknowledged, denies partaking in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.”Banijay UK mentioned: “Whereas the exterior investigation is ongoing, we can’t be commenting on particular person allegations. We encourage anybody wishing to boost points or considerations to contact us in confidence.”A BBC spokesperson mentioned: “Banijay UK instructed the regulation agency Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations towards Gregg Wallace.”We aren’t going to remark till the investigation is full and the findings are revealed.”Further reporting by Insaf AbbasIf you’re affected by any of the problems on this story, assist and help is on the market at BBC Motion Line