Gregg Wallace axed from MasterChef as 50 people come forward with fresh allegations
Gregg Wallace has been dismissed from his role as MasterChef presenter following a misconduct inquiry, the BBC has claimed.
The decision comes as 50 additional people have contacted the BBC with fresh allegations against the television presenter.
The new claims include accusations that Wallace groped a MasterChef worker and pulled his trousers down in front of another colleague. Wallace denies all the allegations made against him.
An independent law firm conducted the inquiry on behalf of MasterChef’s production company Banijay, with the report expected imminently.
Wallace had previously stepped aside from the programme in November after an initial investigation saw 13 people accuse him of making inappropriate sexual comments.
The fresh allegations span multiple shows and settings, with the majority involving inappropriate sexual comments whilst 11 women specifically accuse him of inappropriate sexual behaviour including groping and touching.
In a statement posted on his social media on Tuesday, Wallace claimed he had been cleared by the Banijay report of “the most serious and sensational allegations” made against him.
“I recognise that some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate. For that, I apologise without reservation. But I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks,” he wrote.
The presenter has been one of the most high-profile figures on British television for two decades, serving as the face of BBC One’s cooking programme MasterChef throughout this period.
As reported by the BBC, one woman, identified as Alice, says Wallace took his trousers down in front of her in a dressing room, describing the behaviour as “disgusting and predatory.”
Another accuser, Sophie, says she was left feeling “absolutely horrified” and “quite sick” when he groped her.
The allegations include a separate incident involving another junior worker who claims that in 2012, Wallace dropped his trousers in front of her whilst not wearing underwear.
Several men have also come forward as witnesses to Wallace making inappropriate sexual comments during various professional encounters.
Many of the women who have spoken to the BBC are young female freelancers working in the television industry.
They report feeling unable to raise complaints about Wallace’s behaviour at the time due to concerns about potential negative consequences for their careers.
In an interview earlier this year, Wallace admitted that some of the inappropriate jokes were “probably true”, saying: “Some of what’s been said sounds like the sort of comments I’d have made.”
But he insisted he had never groped any workers, calling those claims “absolutely not true”.