BBC star Gregg Wallace breaks silence on misconduct claims with assertion to followers
Gregg Wallace has taken to Instagram after leaving his role hosting MasterChef in the wake of misconduct claims.
The household name shared a video on Thursday night, just hours after the bombshell announcement that he was leaving the hit BBC cookery show
Wallace said in his video message: “I would like to thank all the people for getting in touch, reaching out, and sharing their support. That’s good of you. Thank you very much.” The message comes as he faces an investigation into historic allegations of misconduct.
READ MORE: Gregg Wallace steps down as MasterChef host amid complaints investigation
READ MORE: Gregg Wallace accused of ‘walking nude into MasterChef studio with sock on privates’
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Ex-Newsnight anchor Kirsty Wark is one of 13 to have made claims about Wallace, with BBC News claiming that she’s alleged Wallace cracked “jokes of a sexualised nature” while they were filming back in 2011.
The 60-year-old has denied making inappropriate sexual comments towards women and told The Mirror he was “fully cooperating” with the investigation. He did not make any further comment.
Banijay UK, MasterChef’s production company, said it was conducting “an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate” the claims made against the presenter.
They said: “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. 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.
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“While this review is underway, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully cooperating throughout the process. Banijay UK’s duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set.”
It went on to say: “Whilst these are historical allegations, incidences brought to our attention where these expectations are not met, are thoroughly investigated and addressed appropriately.
A BBC spokesperson added: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.
“We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated. Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them.”
