Gregg Wallace complainant 'feels sorry' for him and slams John Torode
A contestant who appeared on Celebrity MasterChef has revealed that she "feels sorry" for Gregg Wallace after complaining about his language on the BBC show's set.
Aasmah Mir took part in the show back in 2017 and later complained to the show after Gregg Wallace allegedly referred to a BBC colleague as a "sexy b***h".
Last week, Gregg was fired by Banijay after a report found that 45 out of 83 allegations of inappropriate behaviour were upheld following a seven-month probe into his behaviour, reports the Mirror.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain today, Aasmah opened up about her "uncomfortable experience" with him - but revealed that she feels sorry for the axed presenter.
She said: "I feel sorry for him, I do feel sorry for Gregg Wallace because of the neurodivergence, which is quite obvious here.
"But someone - the production company - should have stepped in earlier and said, 'this is not acceptable.' We wouldn't have the mess we have today."
Aasmah shared Gregg's alleged comment to her last year when he stepped down from hosting MasterChef during the investigation into his behaviour.
Speaking about how she felt at the time, Aasmah said on GMB today: "It's not the worst thing in the world, no one has died but it was an uncomfortable experience.
"I remember feeling destabilised and I remember my cheeks were burning because I was thinking, 'What happened there?'"
She added that John Torode did not react to Gregg's comment. "No one said anything. Both Gregg Wallace and John Torode looked completely blank, poker face. Like nothing had happened."
"I don't know how many of the substantiated allegations he witnessed so I can only talk about my own, but all I know is Gregg Wallace used an incredibly inappropriate term and John Torode didn't do anything. There was no emotion.
"That could be because it was 2017, it had been going on since 2005 - the programme. Maybe he'd just become used to it? You would expect some emotion on his face perhaps but maybe he was just used to it and that's not his fault necessarily. It's Gregg Wallace's for putting him in that position."
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Earlier this week, John Torode was sacked from MasterChef after Lewis Silkin's report into Gregg Wallace's behaviour upheld an allegation against him of using racist language.
While John denied the allegation, the BBC said that it takes the finding "extremely seriously", adding: "We will not tolerate racist language of any kind and, as we have already said, we told Banijay UK, the makers of MasterChef, that action must be taken. John Torode's contract on MasterChef will not be renewed."
John - who said he had "no recollection" of the incident happening - is preparing to take legal action against the BBC.
A source told The Mirror: "He wants to pursue them for unfair dismissal. He's telling people there is no proof of his supposed comment. It was not in a work capacity, it was just hearsay. John is determined to clear his name."
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