‘There are so many issues which can be painful and tough to hearken to’: Melanie Sykes speaks out after claiming MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace was the explanation she give up TV

Melanie Sykes has spoken out amid the ongoing Gregg Wallace row and his sexual misconduct investigation.

The star, 54, previously claimed that spending time with MasterChef presenter Gregg on the BBC show in 2021 made her walk away from her television career.

Gregg, 60, has stepped away from the BBC show after 13 people, including Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, accused him of ‘wrong’ and inappropriate ‘sexualised’ behaviour during filming.

The claims are across a 17-year period and include those of inappropriate behaviour, including roaming around on set naked with a sock on his penis, inappropriate jokes and two claims of groping crew members. 

In a new YouTube video posted on Sunday Melanie did not directly address the Gregg situation when she spoke but referred to certain recent media reports.

Reflecting, she said: ‘I’m deep in thought as always, emotional and I’m so grateful and happy with everything in my life. 

‘But there are so many things as a human that are painful and difficult to listen to.

‘I look out at the birds in the morning and they are in such harmony and I don’t understand why we can’t do that. 

‘There are times in my life when I just don’t engage with the media narrative in any shape or form and there are periods when I do because I want to know what’s happening…’

Melanie made comments about Gregg in her autobiography, titled Illuminated, which was published last year, and expanded on them in recent days in another video posted on YouTube. 

Mel claimed Gregg greeted her on MasterChef by asking if models eat food, which she said she found ‘unprofessional’ and laced with ‘ignorance and disrespect’.

She also said the grocer-turned broadcaster spent time ‘barking orders’ in such a manner that made her want to leave the show.

And Gregg apparently told her that appearing on his show would do a lot for her career prospects.

She said: ‘I didn’t know what to say, so I smiled and said ‘yes’, but I was really thinking, ‘Yes, you have finally helped me decide to end my television career once and for all’.’ 

Melanie said she made an informal complaint against Wallace, and claimed she found conduct on the MasterChef set ‘jaw-dropping’.

Melanie is best known for the Boddingtons advert in the 1990s and as the co-host of Today with Des and Mel in the early 2000s. 

In her book, Melanie wrote: ‘The MasterChef experience continued to be an eye-opener, and some unprofessional behaviour on set was jaw-dropping.’ 

In her recent YouTube video she said that ‘every time Gregg came over to the desk, I didn’t really like him being around really because it’s all about vibrations and energy’.

At the end of filming the show, Melanie claimed she had a brief conversation with Gregg, which was a huge factor in her exit from television. 

It is not known who Melanie made an informal complaint about Gregg to.

On Saturday it was revealed that Gregg admitted ‘defeat’ and accepted his career is over in the wake of an investigation by a production company into his alleged sexual harassment and groping.

In October Gregg vehemently denied that he had made inappropriate sexual comments towards women, declaring that he would never ‘flirt with’ or ‘hit on’ another woman and: ‘I didn’t say anything sexual’. 

A source has now told MailOnline that Gregg has told friends that he ‘accepts his TV career is basically at an end.’

They revealed that Gregg is being ‘quite reflective and pragmatic’ about the investigation and has concluded he has ‘had a good run and done well for a bloke who was basically a greengrocer.’

Gregg set up his own fruit and vegetable business – earning himself the nickname ‘Gregg the Veg’ from friends – in 1989 and supplied restaurants including Quaglinos, where young Aussie chef John was working.

While this year’s MasterChef Christmas specials have been pulled from the TV schedule there is also discussion that the BBC will be removing historic shows featuring him due to the nature of the complaints.

MailOnline have contacted the BBC for comment. Gregg’s representatives refused to comment when approached by MailOnline. 

Other allegations include talking openly about his sex life on set, with details of intimate acts, flirting with crew members and asking younger female colleagues for their numbers. 

Meanwhile The Sun has reported the star has stopped using his legal team as he believes he will be sacked from MasterChef and has resigned to his fate. 

The presenter has reportedly turned down crisis-publicity teams in the weeks after several women complained he had groped or harassed them. 

He announced he was stepping away from presenting MasterChef after nearly 20 years last month, while an investigation into his alleged misconduct is carried out.

Earlier this week Penny Lancaster broke her silence after her husband Rod Stewart slammed the host, saying she had been a ‘victim and witness’ to Gregg’s bullying. 

She said: ‘I most definitely was witness and victim to some of the bullying and harassment behaviour of Gregg Wallace. And unfortunately a lot of those in the production team were also witness to that.’

She went on: ‘I really feel that he used his position of power to I believe intimidate and cause distress to a lot of people on set.

‘And it’s really unfortunate that someone like him is allowed to get away with that while other stands by and let it happen at the same time. And it’s obvious that a lot of people have come forward.’

Following his exit, singer Rod issued a furious rant at the presenter, calling him a ‘tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully’ for ‘humiliating’ wife Penny when she appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2021.

Explaining the decision behind Rod’s angry post, Penny said: ‘My husband when he heard people talking about the disturbing behaviors, he couldn’t hold back. 

‘Protective husband thought, ‘I’m not going to stay silent I need to say something,’ because he realised how upset I was at the time.’

The BBC claims Gregg walked away from MasterChef after BBC News sent a letter to his agent on Tuesday, setting out allegations from 13 people and giving him a right of reply.

They say he was warned after a complaint was raised in 2018, but new historical claims emerged over the summer of 2024.

Gregg is ‘committed to fully cooperating throughout the process’, the show’s production company Banijay UK said.

The chef has since thanked people for their support following accusations he mimicked a sex act and wandered into the MasterChef studio ‘completely naked’ apart from a ‘sock covering his penis’.

Gregg is accused of mimicking a sex act in front of a member of the show’s production staff who was kneeling down to clean his trousers during filming, according to the lurid and so-far unsubstantiated allegations. 

The grocer turned presenter is also accused of making ‘disgusting sex-related jokes’, including one about an ‘aunt’ while tasting a contestant’s dish during the show. 

In a video posted on Instagram last month, he said: ‘I would like to thank all the people getting in touch, reach out and showing their support.

‘That’s good of you, thank you very much.’