Gregg Wallace faces fresh allegations as ghostwriter claims he sexually harassed her
A ghostwriter who worked on Gregg Wallace’s 2012 autobiography has accused the former MasterChef presenter of sexual harassment during an appearance on BBC’s Newsnight.
Shannon Kyle, who was 35 at the time she worked with Wallace on his memoir ‘Life On A Plate’, made several allegations about the TV star’s behaviour during their professional relationship.
Kyle claimed Wallace made “revolting” and “sickening” sexualised suggestions to her while she was working on his book between May and August 2012.
The writer’s allegations come amid wider controversy surrounding Wallace, who has faced accusations of inappropriate behaviour from more than a dozen people over a 17-year period.
Wallace has strongly denied all allegations through his legal representatives.
Kyle alleged that Wallace answered the door wearing only a towel during one of their meetings, which he later dropped. She said she had to ask him to get dressed.
The ghostwriter claimed Wallace touched her inappropriately during their time working together.
Speaking to Victoria Derbyshire on Newsnight, Kyle revealed she had signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before beginning the project.
She explained her reluctance to speak out at the time: “I was worried about losing the job because I’d given up all the work for this job.”
“So I thought to myself… I’m just going to try and navigate this, [I’ll] just try and push on through,” she told Newsnight. “It was just really revolting.”
When recent allegations about Wallace’s conduct emerged, Kyle said it felt like “a long time coming.”
Kyle claimed Wallace touched her thigh inappropriately while she was sitting in the passenger seat of his sports car.
She also alleged he felt her bottom following his appearance at the Good Food Show in Birmingham.
During their work together, Kyle said Wallace shared explicit details about his dating life, claiming he was “dating lots of different women” at the time.
“He started telling me about these dates, who the women were, where he met them,” Kyle told Victoria Derbyshire.
“And then, in very graphic details, what sexual acts they had done together. He talked about spanking a lot.”
She added: “He also talked about one of his girlfriends on all fours in front of a mirror.”
Kyle said Wallace’s sexual discussions were “completely unnecessary for the book.”
Through his lawyers, Wallace has categorically denied Kyle’s allegations, stating: “Our client has denied that he has engaged in any such behaviour, and he specifically denies any sexual misconduct with Ms Kyle.”
The TV presenter recently announced he would “take some time out” following the wider controversy surrounding his conduct.
This came after Wallace expressed regret for suggesting the complaints about his behaviour came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age.”
In a video apology, Wallace 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 headspace 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.”
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He added: “It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out, now while this investigation is under way.”
Production company Banijay UK announced last week they would conduct an immediate external review following complaints about Wallace’s historical conduct.
“Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review,” the company stated.
They confirmed Wallace would step away from MasterChef during the investigation process.
The BBC also responded to the situation, stating: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.”
The broadcaster added: “We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated.”
They noted that where individuals are contracted through external production companies, complaints are shared with those companies who address them with BBC support.