BBC Ends Ties With ‘MasterChef' Host Gregg Wallace After Investigation
Of the 83 allegations made against Mr. Wallace, 45 were upheld, the broadcaster said. These included three instances of him being 'in a state of undress' and one of unwelcome physical contact. The majority of claims against Mr. Wallace, who hosted the show for 19 years, involve 'inappropriate sexual language and humor,' but the probe also found allegations of culturally and racially insensitive comments.
The investigation, conducted by the law firm Lewis Silkin, involved interviews with 78 witnesses over seven months. It covered incidents between 2005 and 2024.
'The volume and consistency of substantiated allegations' made Mr. Wallace's return to the hit cooking show 'untenable,' according to a statement from the production company behind the show, Banijay.
Mr. Wallace strongly denied many of the allegations in a statement posted to Instagram. On Monday morning, after the BBC reported it would stop working with Mr. Wallace, the post had been deleted.
'I recognize that some of my humor and language, at times, was inappropriate,' Mr. Wallace wrote in the now-deleted post. 'For that, I apologize without reservation. But I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks.' He said he had been hired as the 'cheeky greengrocer' — a role that included his warmth and rough edges. 'Now,' he said, 'in a sanitized world, that same personality is seen as a problem.'
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