Gregg Wallace faces another blow as 'entire final MasterChef series could be scrapped' as sacked BBC presenter faces 50 new misconduct claims

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Gregg Wallace could face yet another blow as his 'entire final MasterChef series could be scrapped,' according to reports.
The Masterchef presenter, 60, who has been sacked by the BBC following a nine-month sexual-misconduct investigation, also faces 50 new allegations.
This week he hit out at bosses in a scathing post as he insisted he was still being fired despite being cleared of 'the most serious and sensational accusations'.
Before the probe was launched, Gregg had completed filming new episodes of MasterChef, which have been shelved.
A source told The Sun, that bosses need to make a decision on the series as they have 'contributors to consider'.
They said: 'Bosses are inclined to can the whole thing, but that would also mean binning the time - and hopes - poured into making the show by those amateur chefs.'
The source added: 'Another option is installing the series on iPlayer only, so viewers would 'elect' to stream it, with their understanding that it included Gregg. Editing him out is not an option.
'Either way it's a major headache for the BBC, and would be a final crushing blow for Gregg.'
MailOnline has contacted representatives for the BBC and Gregg Wallace for comment.
It comes as the BBC received 50 new claims over the TV presenter, including allegations he pulled his trousers down in front of one worker on the show and groped another.
Sources are also claiming that Gregg is considering taking the BBC, or Masterchef's production company Banijay to a tribunal, and is ready to declare 'war' on bosses over his sacking.
Gregg has also reportedly taken on the 'rottweiler' lawyer Dan Morrison, who represented Nigel Farage in the NatWest/Coutts bank account closure scandal.
It's thought that Gregg's lawyers could push for the release of the report's executive summary, which might jeopardise senior MasterChef executives and talent.
During the misconduct probe, in two categories — 'demeaning' nicknames for staff and Wallace being 'direct' with contestants — investigators said Gregg's actions were unintentional.
Gregg's autism diagnosis was also reportedly used to explain some behaviour, and some allegations in the probe have been upheld.
These include the star opening his dressing room door with a sock over his manhood, before shouting: 'Hooray.'
Due to the BBC's cost-cutting measures, it's been deemed unlikely that Gregg will receive any or redundancy package, but he could land a six-figure payout from a tribunal in his favour.
On Tuesday, Gregg released a statement ahead of the investigation into his misconduct allegations being published later this week.
Wallace denies the claims and has condemned the corporation in a scathing social media post saying he had been cleared of 'the most serious and sensational accusations'.
But fresh claims come from people who say they encountered him across a range of shows with the majority alleging he made inappropriate sexual comments towards them, according to BBC News.
Out of the 50 allegations, 11 women have accused him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, such as groping and touching.
One woman described Wallace's behaviour 'disgusting and predatory' saying he pulled his trousers down in front of her in a dressing room.
While another said she was left feeling 'absolutely horrified' when he groped her.
One participant on the BBC's Saturday Kitchen claims during filming in 2002, Wallace put his hand under the table and onto her groin, before asking her: 'Do you like that?'
Another claim come from a university student who said when she met him at a nightclub, he put his hand under her skirt and pinched her bottom when taking a photo with him.
One woman says that at an industry ball in 2014 he groped her under her dress, while a junior worker says in 2012 he dropped his trousers without wearing underwear in front of her.
Several men claim they witnessed Wallace making inappropriate sexual comments.
Among the recent claims, a 19-year-old MasterChef worker said in 2022 she tried to raise concerns to the BBC about Wallace's comments about her body.
A former policeman said that in 2023 he also tried to complain about Wallace's sexually inappropriate language.
The BBC reports that most of the women who have come forward are young freelancers who felt they were unable to complain without negative career repercussions.
Writing on Instagram, Wallace said he had taken the decision to go public before the Silkins report was published as 'I cannot sit in silence while my reputation is further damaged to protect others'.
The former greengrocer had stepped down from MasterChef while complaints from 13 women about historical allegations of misconduct were investigated.
Wallace, who has worked for the BBC for 21 years, said 'the most damaging claims (including allegations from public figures which have not been upheld) were found to be baseless'.
He said he had recognised 'that some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate'.
'I was hired by the BBC and MasterChef as the cheeky greengrocer. A real person with warmth, character, rough edges and all,' Wallace said.
'For over two decades, that authenticity was part of the brand. Now, in a sanitised world, that same personality is seen as a problem.'
A source reportedly said Wallace had been cleared of the most high profile allegations that had been brought by Penny Lancaster and Kirsty Wark.
'But the BBC has made it clear there is no way back for him. He is devastated,' they said.
The former greengrocer, who was recently diagnosed with autism, accused the BBC of doing nothing to 'investigate my disability or protect me from what I now realise was a dangerous environment for over twenty years'.
And he vowed 'I will not go quietly' as he said the full 200 page report will not be published with the BBC instead going to release an executive summary.
'What really concerns me about the short summary is others who have been found guilty of serious allegations have been erased from the published version of events. I, and I'm sure the public, would like to know why?,' he said.
A source told The Sun that Wallace was 'both furious and devastated' by the BBC's decision to axe him.
The report is to be officially published on Thursday, but Wallace's legal team have claimed to have seen the report.
A BBC spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace.
'We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published.'
In response to the latest allegations, a spokesperson for Wallace told the BBC: 'Gregg continues to co-operate fully with the ongoing Banijay UK review and as previously stated, denies engaging in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.'
Wallace was initially bullish in the face of the allegations, taking to Instagram to say they mostly came from 'middle class women of a certain age'.
He went on to ask: 'Can you imagine how many women on MasterChef have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo?'
Since then, several high-profile names - including TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson as well as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer - had condemned his remarks in public statements.
The former greengrocer later apologised for the controversial comments which caused a PR storm.
The under-fire presenter said of his middle class women slur: 'I wasn't in a good headspace when I posted it. I've been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion.'
He told the Mail in April had he how he stopped socialising with young people after first being disciplined by the BBC in 2018, because he was 'scared they would complain about him.'
He was disciplined for inappropriate behaviour while working on a quiz show when he told a young runner on the final day of filming that he'd 'really enjoyed working with her, she was brilliantly clever, strikingly attractive and was going to do well'.
Talking about the aftermath in a new interview, he explained: 'My behaviours completely and utterly changed from 2018 and that's why there are no complaints in this big investigation after 2018. It changed me completely and I never got into trouble again.
'But the way I did it was to become a social recluse. I refused to do anything social at work, wouldn't go to the pub with anyone, to the point where when we went out on location everybody else would go out for dinner and I would stay in my hotel room.
'I wouldn't socialise. I stopped any social conversations with younger people that I didn't know very well.'
Wallace recalled: 'There's some really good young people at work and they'd say 'Gregg we're all going for a drink are you gonna come?'
'And I'd say no I won't come. You guys make me nervous. The sensibilities of a sixty year old man are different to 25-year-olds and you live in a complaint culture that never existed.
'If I go out with you and I drink and offer an opinion, political or social, I'm scared you're going to complain about me. The anxiety levels were just extraordinary.'