A month later, it was announced that MasterChef production company Banijay UK would be launching an independent investigation about historic complaints made to the BBC about Gregg’s conduct.
“This week the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with presenter Gregg Wallace on one of our shows,” a Banijay rep said.
“Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate.”
It was also confirmed that, while this review was taking place, Gregg would be “stepping away from his role on MasterChef”, adding that he was “committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”.
The Sun had reported weeks earlier that Gregg’s future with MasterChef – which he began hosting in 2005 – was “under fire” after it “emerged” he had been at the centre of the aforementioned BBC probe six years earlier.
In a now-infamous Instagram post shared shortly after the MasterChef investigation was first made public, Gregg told his followers: “I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years – amateur, professional and celebrity – and I think in that time I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life.
“And apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time. Now, in the newspaper I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right.”
“In over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo – can you imagine?” he concluded.
Meanwhile, in a separate post, he claimed: “[I’ve done] 20 years [of] Celebrity MasterChef, amateur, professional, Eat Well for Less, Inside The Factory. Do you know how many staff – all different sorts of staff, you imagine the people I’ve worked with – complained about me in that time? Absolutely none. Zero. Seriously.”
After facing a widespread backlash – including from prime minister Keir Starmer – for his “middle-class women of a certain age” comment, Gregg later apologised for “any offence” and “any upset I may have caused to a lot of people”.
“I wasn’t in a good head space when I posted it,” he claimed, stating he had been “under a huge amount of stress” since the investigation was made public, and was feeling “very alone under siege”.
He said: “It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out now while this investigation is underway.”
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