MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace breaks silence on ‘inappropriate sexual comments’ | Celebrity News | Showbiz and television

Gregg Wallace has broken his silence after reports of an investigation into his conduct by the BBC resurfaced. The MasterChef star was reportedly accused of making inappropriate sexual comments to a female BBC employee while appearing on Impossible Celebrities.

According to the Sun, the TV personality faced complaints about his behavior in 2018 when he allegedly took off his top and bragged about his sexual encounters. In 2023, he was also reportedly accused of being rude and insulting to women on another show, Inside The Factory.

On Instagram, the presenter said: “Referring to what is reported in the newspapers, these allegations were investigated by the BBC six years ago – and my comments were not found to be sexual. I repeat: not sexually. Thank you.”

Following a series of recent controversies, including BBC newsreader Huw Edwards pleading guilty to indecent images of children and Strictly Come Dancing professionals being investigated over their training regimes, the broadcasters are now reportedly under fire over why the 59-year-old was retained despite promising to clean up workplace culture.

A source told the Sun: “There are questions to be asked about the decision to allow Gregg to continue with MasterChef despite these previous incidents.

“The BBC says they are keen to clarify issues around workplace culture but have allowed Gregg to remain on a flagship show despite allegations about his behaviour.”

They added: “Gregg was accused of making inappropriate comments to a younger, female member of the production team.

“He would brag about his sex life with his partner at the time. At one point, Gregg was also accused of taking off his top in front of the woman, which felt inappropriate. Gregg seemed to think it was all just banter and reportedly made some comments to the live audience as well.

“The team working on the show were shocked and told BBC executives what had happened.”

The source claimed that Wallace had been ordered by his employers to change his behavior as they took “immediate action”. They said: “The BBC took immediate action and Gregg was called in to meet with them.

“He made it clear that he didn’t mean anything by what he said, but that he was being read the riot act and had to change his behavior.”