EXCLUSIVE REVEALED: Gregg Wallace considering new career move as former MasterChef host plots lucrative secret survival plan - as he fears 'losing everything' after axing from the BBC
Source close to the star said he has vowed to relaunch himself independently on a string of digital platforms, like controversial comedian Russell Brand, who has amassed a lucrative career with 6.8m subscribers on YouTube.
Gregg, 60, is desperate to keep earning, having been side-lined since last year following a raft of allegations about his inappropriate behaviour on set at MasterChef.
A report this week substantiated 45 of the 83 allegations against him, and the BBC informed the star that it had no intention of working with him in the future.
He is now frantically seeking a new agent and planning a return to the spotlight using social media to air self-made content about food and healthy living – having watched others succeed after losing their mainstream TV work.
Gregg is said to fear financial ruin, having seen several of his businesses forced into administration with mammoth debts and he has previously admitted 'losing everything' was the worst experience of his life.
The father-of-three, who has had three costly divorces from his ex-wives, now lives in a five-bedroom farmhouse in Kent alongside three generations of his family, including his wife Anne-Marie Sterpini, in-laws and young son who suffers with autism – but has 'never been great with money' according to those who know him.
As one insider said: 'He really should take a break from the spotlight and work out for himself what has gone wrong, he might learn a bit about himself and start to recognise the mistakes he has made, but all he can think about right now is how to keep the cash rolling in.'
'Money is clearly at the very forefront of his mind – much more so than whether this is actually his own fault.
'He's telling people he needs to get straight back to work whatever it takes for financial reasons, and seems to think he can follow in the footsteps of other people who have lost prominent jobs in mainstream TV and go it alone. His biggest fear is losing everything he has worked so hard for and going bust.
'He also wants to get himself a new agent pretty quickly to land some commercial deals – he's had big endorsement arrangements in the past which have paid a fortune, but it's hard to imagine any big brand wanting to snap him up at the moment.'
Instead he is widely expected to ramp up his content on YouTube and TikTok as he pursues other revenue streams outside of mainstream broadcasting.
Wallace, who has lost five stone in recent years through diet and fitness, last week launched one-on-one coaching sessions for his fans to 'feel fitter and stronger' for £200-a-month.
Someone who has made a career on alternative media is comedian Russell Brand who is still making thousands a week, according to his biographer, despite being dropped by his agent and having his revenue streams blocked by YouTube.
The comedian was cancelled after The Sunday Times and Channel 4 revealed sexual misconduct claims in their Dispatches documentary, which Russell has strenuously denied. Russell has denied all the allegations made against him, he denies rape, assault and emotional abuse and claims all encounters were consensual.
It has been claimed that Russell is still raking it in with up to £25,000 per week coming into his coffers from 'off-grid' business ventures.
Tanith Carey, Russell Brand's first biographer, previously claimed: 'Brand may no longer be welcome on primetime TV, but even before his mainstream career was torn apart by the allegations, he was concentrating on getting a cult following on alternative social media channels where he had more control.
'Brand now has a solid and devoted social media following, many of whom aren't bothered at all by the sexual allegations - and who see them as part of the establishment's conspiracy to silence him.'
Carey also claimed that Russell was taking his career in a new direction which seems to be bringing in cash galore: 'He is finding re-branding himself as a serious revolutionary and a spiritual guru can also be lucrative.'
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