Inside Gregg Wallace's marriage to wife 22 years his junior as she stands by him
Gregg Wallace is being supported by his wife after issuing a blistering statement aimed at the BBC yesterday. The MasterChef star was last year accused of making inappropriate and sexual comments during his time on the show.
He issued a statement yesterday, where he said: "I've taken the decision to speak out ahead of the publication of the Silkins report - a decision I do not take lightly. But after 21 years of loyal service to the BBC, I cannot sit in silence while my reputation is further damaged to protect others. I have now been cleared by the Silkins report of the most serious and sensational accusations made against me. The most damaging claims (including allegations from public figures which have not been upheld) were found to be baseless after a full and forensic six month investigation."
He added: "My decision to go public now is also driven by the fact the BBC News division are intending to platform legally unsafe accusations, including claims which have already been investigated and not upheld by the BBC and found not credible by Silkins.
"The BBC is no longer providing balanced and impartial public service journalism. It is peddling baseless and sensationalised gossip masquerading as properly corroborated stories. The BBC is choosing to allow BBC News to run with this uncorroborated tittle tattle in an attempt to 'get ahead' of the Silkin's summary report and derail what has been an extremely thorough process."
"This feels to me like BBC News is chasing slanderous click-bait rather than delivering impartial journalism. To be clear, the Silkin's Report exonerates me of all the serious allegations which made headlines last year and finds me primarily guilty of inappropriate language between 2005 and 2018. I recognise that some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate. For that, I apologise without reservation. But I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks," he continued.
He was referring to new misconduct claims from 50 people. Wallace has strongly denied all claims. The new claims are said to have come from people who encountered Wallace on a range of shows and settings. Eleven women have accused him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, while the majority claimed he made inappropriate sexual comments.
Gregg is married to Anne-Marie Sterpini, who is 22 years his junior. They live with their son and Anna's parents Rina and Massimo. He had previously suggested his wife needed extra help around the house after she became a mother for the first time, citing that he wanted to keep his wife as his "fun, sexy girlfriend" post-motherhood.
He said of their romance: "That young woman has revolutionised my life, there's a 22-year age gap, we have been together ten years and have a son, Sid, and I want to be there for them."
Gregg and Anna met online when she asked him if rhubarb really went well with duck. She works in the food industry too like Gregg and is a caterer. Of how they met, he said: "I just looked at Anna's photo and thought, 'Wow, she's pretty'. So yes, rhubarb, which was considered an aphrodisiac in medieval times, brought us together ...
"She came down to London to have dinner with me, and she said it wasn't until we got to the restaurant, that she was comfortable it was really me and not an imposter." The pair got married in August 2016.
Gregg said he was worried about the age gap but she wasn't concerned. He explained: "People look at you anyway and I felt really conscious because she was younger, and I didn't want people to judge her harshly."
In addition to son Sid, the presenter has two other children, Libby and Tom, with his second wife, former pastry chef Denise. Sid has autism, which Gregg has discussed in the past.
"Sid has autism. He's three, you can't legally diagnose it in this country until they are two-and-a-half, but we knew at about a year old that we had some issues. For us he wasn't answering to his name, he wasn't playing peek-a-boo," he said in 2022.
"He was walking and running around but he's got autism and he's got something called global development delay. So he's not speaking. But he is lovely and he is cuddly and he is happy. And if he wants something he grabs your hand and takes you."
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