MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has been accused of making inappropriate sexual comments across a number of TV show over a 17-year period as celebrities speak out against him

Gregg Wallace has come under fire from a string of celebrities after he stepped away from MasterChef hosting duties.

A series of complaints have been made against the TV presenter by people who claim they previously worked with him. The MasterChef presenter has been accused of making inappropriate sexual comments. Wallace, 60, has denied allegations of inappropriate sexual comments he is said to have made.

Production company Banijay UK are externally reviewing the historical misconduct complaints and Wallace is “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process”. Thirteen people have told the BBC of inappropriate sexual comments made by Wallace across a range of shows over a 17-year period. Since then, a number of celebrities have spoken out against Wallace.

Kirsty Wark

Kirsty Wark is one of the 13 people who have complained about Wallace ( 
Image:
BBC/Shine TV/Des Willie)
Broadcaster Kirsty Wark has accused Wallace of telling “sexualised jokes” when she took part in Celebrity MasterChef in 2011. Kirsty, who is best known for hosting BBC Newsnight, claimed Wallace told “jokes of a sexualised nature” on two occasions during filming. She added that crew and other contestants were present. Speaking to BBC News, Kirsty said Wallace’s alleged remarks were “really, really in the wrong place”.

Sir Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart issued a message about his wife Penny’s time on the show ( 
Image:
Dave Benett/Getty Images for Langan’s)

On Thursday evening, Sir Rod Stewart hit out at Wallace for ‘humiliating his wife’ Penny Lancaster on Celebrity MasterChef in 2021. He wrote in a post shared with his 1.4million followers: “Good riddance Wallace… You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you? You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya. Sir Rod Stewart.”

Charlotte Crosby

Charlotte Crosby appeared on MasterChef this summer ( 
Image:
PA)
Geordie Shore star Charlotte appeared on the latest series of Celebrity MasterChef that aired this summer. Following the news, she simply told her followers: “He was extremely unpleasant to me when I was on MasterChef.” The TV star didn’t expand on her claim but previously spoke of her time on MasterChef while on the One Show. She said: “There’s something about that space and that studio you feel like a little kid again. It’s horrible, all the lights are on you. The pressure – it’s really scary. There was a lot of emotion!”

Ulrika Jonsson

Taking to her Instagram stories, the TV presenter and model, 57, claimed that Wallace made a ‘rape joke’ on MasterChef. The Swedish-British star claimed that she felt like she was being ‘made a liar of’ after Gregg’s lawyers insisted that all the claims were ‘entirely false’. In another Instagram story, Jonsson claimed that several members of crew on MasterChef knew what was going on and had allegedly seen Gregg’s inappropriate behaviour.

She claimed: “Plenty of crew on set who would not dare to speak up for fear of losing their jobs.” Speaking to the Telegraph, Jonsson claimed that another female contestant had become “really distressed” after Wallace’s alleged remarks. The star claimed that she saw the woman walking off set and asked her what had happened. “She then told us that Gregg Wallace had made a rape joke. She was really distressed about it.”

The contestant then retold the joke to Jonsson, before deciding to speak to a producer about the incident. “They then went off to speak to Gregg,” she said. “After a while he came up…and he apologised. He could hardly get his words out… He was apologising, and he had tears in his eyes.” Jonsson said that in her opinion Wallace should simply not have told the joke in the first place.

Katy Brand

A clip of Katy Brand’s time on the show went viral ( 
Image:
BBC)Katy has broken her silence after a clip from her time on MasterChef started circling again. When on the show, Wallace told her: “Left to my own devices, I would probably munch the living daylights out of you.. your little tart. Very, very nice.” Katy replied: “Excuse me,” as she laughed.

In her social media message, Katy said: “I am aware of the allegations of misconduct currently surrounding Greg Wallace. I am aware that he has stepped back from presenting MasterChef until these allegations have been properly investigated. I am also aware that a video of my time on the show in 2013 is circulating, where Wallace makes a remark to me about a dish I cooked. I took it as an innuendo-laden remark at the time, and I still see it that way now.”