BBC bosses ought to ‘pull MasterChef off air tonight’ as Gregg Wallace complaints investigated
BBC bosses should “pause” episodes of MasterChef while an investigation into Gregg Wallace’s conduct takes place, a Labour MP has said.
Rupa Huq, a member of the Commons Culture Committee, said airing the programme could be “triggering” for some of the women who have made allegations. She said pulling the programme – MasterChef: The Professionals is due to air on BBC One this evening – would “send a strong signal”.
In recent days, Wallace, 60, has been accused of making inappropriate sexual remarks and jokes by 13 people over a 17 year period. He strongly denied the allegations in a statement issued via his legal representatives.
The Masterchef presenter has stepped away from the BBC cooking show while the misconduct complaints are externally reviewed by producer Banjay UK.
But speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Labour MP Ms Huq said: “I think possibly there is an argument for pausing while this investigation takes its course and maybe not airing it tonight.
“It could be massively triggering for the women involved, in fact any woman involved in any type of similar incident.
She added: “I know you’re saying he’s stopped presenting, but to the casual viewer there’s not going to be any difference if it’s on TV tonight, it looks like sort of he got away with it.
“I think the BBC should send a strong signal. We need to let the investigation do its work – but at the same time if he’s been dangled on our screens when all this is going on, I just think at the moment maybe pause it.”
Wallace has said he is “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process” during the investigation process. His lawyers say “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
But on Sunday morning, Wallace took to social media to challenge the accusations and claimed they came from “middle-class women of a certain age” – prompting an angry response.
Ulrika Jonsson, who competed on Celebrity MasterChef in 2017, said she was “seething” while Loction Location star Kirstie Allsopp described his response as “unacceptable”.
In a post on Instagram on Sunday, Wallace said: “I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years, amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef, 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.
“Apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time. 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 20 years, 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?”
