Gregg Wallace has been accused of groping three different woman in bombshell new claims against the BBC presenter, as former MasterChef winner Emma Kennedy reveals she reported him 12 years ago.
One former contestant, who wished to remain anonymous, has today accused Wallace of groping her while she was cooking on the set of the show.
He also allegedly shouted ‘You stupid cow’ when she turned on the tap incorrectly and scalded her hand.
The woman claims she let Wallace know she was disgusted by his actions, but said she ‘had her card marked’ for not seeing it as banter.
She told The Sun that Wallace came up behind her as she stood at the kitchen counter and put his hands on her hips before pressing into her.
‘I made an ‘Eww’ sound and stepped forward,’ she said. ‘It was my instant reaction. But it set his mangy on edge and he moved on without saying anything.’
When the woman burned her hand under the hot tap, it was at that moment, she claimed, Wallace decided to be an ‘absolute b*****d.
‘It was awful. He offered no assistance. I wanted to cry,’ she told The Sun.
The woman claimed Wallace was also appalling in the way he treated the show’s staff, pushing a camerawoman and shouting ‘Get out of my f****ng face’.
The contestant said she didn’t make a complaint about Wallace’s behaviour at the time because she ‘didn’t see the point’ because ‘they won’t do anything’.
Gregg Wallace (pictured on MasterChef) stepped down from the TV programme on Thursday amid a probe into his behaviour
Former Celebrity Masterchef winner Emma Kennedy revealed she reported Wallace 12 years ago after she allegedly witnessed him grope a camera assistant during a photoshoot for the 2012 finals
The BBC has said that it will take the issues raised about Wallace ‘seriously’
Another woman claimed Wallace told her in a pub that she aroused him and that he made sexually inappropriate comments and squeezed her bum.
The then 27-year-old met Wallace at the Ideal Home Show in London and said it was one of her first roles as an events planner.
She then bumped into him at the pub where he struck up a conversation with her and allegedly told her he couldn’t look her in the eyes because he was aroused.
The next day, the woman said she met Wallace’s now ex-wife Heidi Brown, who was ‘really sweet’, but when Wallace came over the woman said his demeanour changed.
She told The Sun: ‘He said, ‘Do I know you?’, like he was pretending he didn’t know to justify his behaviour. The whole thing was grim and not acceptable.’
The woman did not make a complaint because she said she feared repercussions.
A third allegation came from Celebrity MasterChef winner Emma Kennedy who claimed she first reported Wallace’s behaviour 12 years ago, after she allegedly witnessed him grope a camera assistant during a photoshoot for the 2012 finals.
Wallace stepped down from the TV programme on Thursday amid a probe into his behaviour.
Ms Kennedy, 57, claimed the PR team who worked for MasterChef were aware of Wallace’s behaviour and worried it was only a matter of time before it became public.
Emma Kennedy (far left) claimed the PR team who worked for MasterChef were aware of Wallace’s (middle right) behaviour and worried it was only a matter of time before it became public
One former contestant, who wished to remain anonymous, has today accused Wallace of groping her while she was cooking on the set of the show
The actress and comedian told The Sun: ‘They knew then. They knew before then and they’ve known since.’
A total of 13 people, including Kirsty Wark, complained about Wallace’s conduct while working with him over a 17-year period across five shows, from 2005 to 2022, the BBC revealed.
The presenter was accused of taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to ‘give her a fashion show’ and talking about his sex life to others, including telling one female colleague he wasn’t wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans.
Ms Walk claimed that on two occasions Wallace told stories and jokes of a ‘sexualised nature’ in front of contestants and crew while filming Celebrity MasterChef in 2011.
She said his gags and comments were ‘really, really in the wrong place’.
The BBC presenter also allegedly made ‘racist’ remarks about an Asian MasterChef contestant on the show.
According to a former staff member who worked on the production, Wallace would make the inappropriate remarks just after the contestant walked off the set.
They told the Telegraph, Wallace would regularly make the ‘very offensive’ comments in front of the filming team, but that they felt unable to report them at the time due to their junior position.
A total of 13 people, including Kirsty Wark, complained about Wallace’s conduct while working with him over a 17-year period across five shows, from 2005 to 2022, the BBC revealed
Wallace on MasterChef with co-host John Torode. A re-emerged clip from the 2013 series showed Wallace making a ‘innuendo-laden remark’ at contestant Katy Brand
The ‘racist’ remarks included allegedly making ‘Kung Fu noises’ and saying ‘me so horny’ while on set filming a series.
It was previously reported by the Times back in May last year that he had also allegedly offended female staff members at the Nestlé UK factory in York with comments about their weight during a ‘friendly’ conversation.
And in another instance of inappropriate behaviour, a shocking video re-emerged of Wallace approaching 2013 MasterChef contestant Katy Brand in the kitchen and remarking he would ‘munch the living daylights out of her little tart’.
Reacting to the resurfaced video of Wallace’s tart comment, Brand called the encounter ‘awkward’ and recalled her immediate ‘shock and disbelief’ at the ‘crass and idiotic joke’.
‘I took it as an innuendo-laden remark at the time, and I still see it that way now,’ she said.
Other inappropriate TV moments involving Wallace included a bizarre remark about ‘salty balls’ in a MasterChef contestant’s underwhelming starter in 2023.
He told Diya Kotecha-Lodhia: ‘I found those balls really quite salty.’
In 2015 while tasting a female contestant’s dessert, Wallace declared: ‘I want to take my shirt off and dive in!’
Celebrities that have now come out to complain about the presenter’s conduct include Rod Stewart and Ulrika Jonsson.
Bosses at the corporation are said to have hauled the MasterChef co-host into a meeting in 2018 following allegations of ‘inappropriate sexual comments’ and told him to ‘change his behaviour’
The grocer turned broadcaster has insisted that it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature
Following Gregg’s departure, Rod Stewart released a statement to Instagram branding him a ‘tubby bully’
Repeats of MasterChef have allegedly now been removed by Channel 5 and – in a humorous twist – replaced by a documentary on Gregg’s the high street bakers.
The grocer turned broadcaster has insisted that it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
MailOnline revealed on Friday afternoon that some of Wallace’s friends blamed his conduct on a secret autism condition.
They said that despite never having been diagnosed, Wallace displays ‘all the classic symptoms’ including his ‘lighter filter on the subject of sex’ and ‘inability to read the room’.
The friend said: ‘Gregg carries many of the autistic symptoms, the people who know him best have been saying it for years.
”He has a light filter when it comes to sex which is common in people on the spectrum. In the modern world of TV where you can’t just dismiss some of his actions as banter.’
They added: ‘Sometimes he doesn’t interpret facial expressions and tones of voice clearly, therefore can’t decipher how a person is reacting to what he’s saying.
The 60-year-old managed a brief smile as he walked from his car back to his £1.2m Kent farmhouse
Wallace quit BBC show Inside The Factory in March last year after allegations that he had been ‘rude towards staff’ and spoke to them in a ‘derogatory manner, especially to women’
‘But there’s denying he’s good honest bloke.’
On Friday night, a Downing Street spokesperson said the allegations around Wallace’s conduct were ‘deeply concerning’.
The spokesperson said: ‘It’s right that a thorough investigation is conducted, but this of course is one for the BBC and you will have seen their statement saying that they ‘take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place’.
‘While that process is underway it wouldn’t be right for me to comment. I believe the BBC is currently undertaking a workplace culture review to deliver clear and timely recommendations, and it’s essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously.’
A BBC spokesman said: ‘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.’
MailOnline has contacted Gregg Wallace’s representatives for comment.