A number of celebrities have spoken out about having with experienced or witnessed toxic behaviour from Gregg Wallace after a misconduct probe was launched.
Among those to have gone public are musician Rod Stewart, whose wife Penny Lancaster was left in tears during her stint on Celebrity Masterchef and Charlotte Crosby who branded him ‘extremely unpleasant’ after the presenter’s comments also made her cry.
Gregg, 60, stepped away from MasterChef after 13 people accused him of ‘wrong’ and inappropriate ‘sexualised’ behaviour during filming, prompting an investigation by production company Banijay UK.
Journalist Kirsty Wark and presenter Ulrika Jonsson have come forward, joining Katy Brand, Scottish broadcaster Aasmah Mir and Aggie McKenzie.
Elsewhere, one MasterChef production worker has claimed Gregg would joke about threesomes with prostitutes and how he ‘loves spanking’. There were also ‘disgusting sex-related’ gags, including one too rude to publish about an ‘aunt’ while tasting a contestant’s dish.
The BBC has claimed that he 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.
Gregg is ‘committed to fully cooperating throughout the process’, the show’s production company Banijay UK said.
Here, MailOnline takes a look at all the celebrities who have condemned Gregg since the misconduct probe was launched.
A number of celebrities have spoken out about having with experienced or witnessed toxic behaviour from Gregg Wallace after misconduct probe was launched
Among those to have gone public are musician Rod Stewart, whose wife Penny Lancaster was left in tears during her stint on Celebrity Masterchef
Charlotte Crosby has come forward an branded him ‘extremely unpleasant’ after the presenter’s comments made her cry
Taking to social media, Geordie Shore star Charlotte, who starred on Celebrity MasterChef earlier this year, said: ‘He (Gregg) was extremely unpleasant to me when I was on Master Chef’
Charlotte Crosby
Charlotte, who starred on Celebrity MasterChef earlier this year, shared her own allegation about the TV host on Instagram last night.
She wrote: ‘He (Gregg) was extremely unpleasant to me when I was on MasterChef’.
Charlotte previously revealed she was reduced to tears while on the BBC show and that ‘she was wrong to be so confident’ going on the programme.
Speaking on The One Show alongside co-star Edith Bowman earlier this year, Charlotte explained: ‘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!’
Edith then confessed: ‘We both cried!’
Sir Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart issued a furious rant at Gregg calling him a ‘tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully’ for ‘humiliating’ his wife Penny when she appeared on Celebrity MasterChef (pictured in 2019)
He wrote: ‘So Greg Wallace gets fired from Master Chef. 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’
Fans of the show will remember Penny exiting in tears in 2021, after Gregg told her off with the ‘serious’ delay of her food and then refused to eat it
Sir Rod Stewart issued a furious rant at Gregg calling him a ‘tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully’ for ‘humiliating’ his wife Penny Lancaster when she appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2021.
Fans of the show will remember Penny exiting in tears in 2021, after Gregg told her off with the ‘serious’ delay of her food and then refused to eat it.
Following Gregg’s departure, Rod wrote: ‘So Greg (sic) Wallace gets fired from Master Chef.
‘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’.
As chaos filled the kitchen during her stint on the show, Gregg told Penny: ‘Mate, we can’t be 10 minutes late,’ calling her delay ‘serious’.
Following Penny’s eviction from the kitchen in 2021, she shared a cryptic post on Instagram hinting at ‘a person’s behaviour’.
She wrote on Instagram: ‘When you finally learn that a person’s behaviour has more to do with their own struggle than it ever did with you, you learn grace’.
MailOnline has contacted the BBC for a comment.
Last night, TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson claimed Gregg had left a fellow female contestant on Celebrity Masterchef ‘really distressed’ after he allegedly told her a joke about rape.
Ulrika told the Telegraph that the contestant then relayed the joke to her – before they then spoke to a producer about what had happened.
The newspaper reports Gregg then came out to apologise; Ulrika claimed he had ‘tears in his eyes’ as he said sorry following the incident, alleged to have happened in 2017.
She said: ‘The apology should have been to everyone. It felt like, you know, “don’t make the joke in the first place”.’
Kirsty Wark
Kirsty claims that on two occasions Gregg told stories and jokes of a ‘sexualised nature’ in front of contestants and crew while filming Celebrity MasterChef in 2011
The BBC has revealed that 13 people, including Kirsty, have complained about his conduct while working with him over a 17-year period across five shows, from 2005 to 2022.
Kirsty claims that on two occasions Gregg 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’.
‘There were two occasions in particular where he used sexualised language in front of a number of people and it wasn’t as if anyone engaged with this.
‘It was completely one-way traffic. But I think people were uncomfortable and something that I really did not expect to happen’, she said.
Katy Brand
Katy has broken her silence about the ‘awkward’ moment Gregg told her he would ‘munch the living daylights out of her little tart’ on Celebrity MasterChef
Reacting to the resurfaced video of Gregg’s tart comment, she called the encounter ‘awkward’ and recalled her immediate ‘shock and disbelief’ at the ‘crass and idiotic joke’
Katy has broken her silence about the ‘awkward’ moment Gregg told her he would ‘munch the living daylights out of her little tart’ on Celebrity MasterChef.
A shocking video from the 2013 series of the programme shows Wallace making the apparent innuendo about the comedian’s egg tart.
The grocer turned broadcaster tells Brand: ‘I find this quite pleasant. Left to my own devices, I’d probably munch the living daylights out of your 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.
‘My reaction on camera was one of shock and disbelief at such a crass and idiotic joke, and so I laughed and said ”excuse me?” to which he reacted with a deadpan expression and a remark about my laughter.’
Brand added: ‘The video online is a pretty accurate representation of my recollection of what actually happened. It was awkward.
‘For the sake of clarity, I am not one of those who has made an official complaint. I applaud those who have, especially those who work off-camera and who often find they do not have the opportunity or the support to react in the moment.
‘I hope they find it now. That’s all I have to say. Thanks.’
One MasterChef production worker who claimed today Gregg would joke about threesomes with prostitutes and how he ‘loves spanking’. There were also ‘disgusting sex-related’ gags, including one too rude to publish about an ‘aunt’ while tasting a contestant’s dish.
Aggie McKenzie
Aggie Mackenzie , presenter of ‘How Clean is Your House’ who was on the 2011 series of celebrity MasterChef, said Wallace ‘behaved like a sort of Sid James character’
Aggie Mackenzie, presenter of ‘How Clean is Your House’ who was on the 2011 series of celebrity MasterChef, said Wallace ‘behaved like a sort of Sid James character’ who would tell sex jokes and ‘swagger around and do as he liked’.
Comparing him to the Carry On star Sid James, famous for his saucy comments and sexual innuendo, Aggie claimed Wallace made ‘stupid, unfunny jokes that people kind of had to tolerate.’
She said: ‘He used to fill all the time with these stupid, unfunny jokes that people kind of had to tolerate.
‘It’s as if he’s never really grown up or been properly supervised and told to kind of watch what he’s saying.
She added ‘he’d be very well aware of his power…knowing that he can swagger around and do as he liked’:
‘It’s always, you know, the most junior of members have the least power and the smallest voices and they’ve got most to lose. So, you know, if you want to hang on to your job and make your way in telly, you’re not going to stick your head above the parapet, are you?
‘And so, yeah, somebody in his position, he’d be very well aware of his power, possibly in an unconscious way, but knowing that he can, you know, swagger around and do as he liked’.
Aggie also shone a light on his relationship with co-star John Torode, calling them ‘very, very different people’ with no real ‘connection’.
She said: ‘They behave very differently. And I observed that when the cameras were off, they would go to separate ends of the room. They didn’t really communicate or have a connection off screen.’
Aasmah Mir
On Thursday, Scottish broadcaster Aasmah Mir (R) shared a picture of herself during the 2017 Celebrity MasterChef series with the cryptic message: ‘Always keep your receipts’
On Thursday, Scottish broadcaster Aasmah Mir shared a picture of herself during the 2017 Celebrity MasterChef series with the cryptic message: ‘Always keep your receipts’.
It is not yet known if she has also complained.
Greg James
Greg James dropped Wallace from his usual opening gambit as he kicked off his BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show on Friday morning
Greg James dropped Wallace from his usual opening gambit as he kicked off his BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show on Friday morning.
The radio host typically opens the programme with a sound bite of Gregg saying: ‘Fire ’em up, let’s go!’
But today, he instead played a clip of Daniel Craig from US late night show Saturday Night Live, as the Bond star says: ‘Ladies and gentlemen: the weekend.’ The BBC declined to comment on the Radio 1 broadcast.
Lisa Faulkner
Actress Lisa Faulkner (centre) has said Gregg (left) repeatedly made rude jokes to MasterChef crew members – she is married to his co-host John Torode (right)
She told the Cheltenham Literature Festival how she would overhear the former greengrocer’s jokes as she was prepping her dishes
Gregg’s MasterChef co-host John Torode’s wife Lisa Faulkner would think, ‘I don’t want to hear this’, as he apparently delivered punchlines to crew of the BBC‘s flagship cookery show.
Lisa, 52, appeared on the series in 2010 where she went on to win the Celebrity MasterChef trophy – and has opened up about her time on the show.
Brookside and Holby City star Lisa told the Cheltenham Literature Festival how she would overhear the former greengrocer’s jokes as she was prepping her dishes.
She said: ‘Gregg was telling – I’m probably not allowed to say this…Gregg just told rude joke after rude joke to the crew.
‘You’re just sitting there and if you’re on the front bench just chopping away thinking, ‘I’ve got ten minutes left’, and he’s saying, ‘So this girl walked into a bar…’
‘And I’m going, ‘Please, I don’t want to hear this joke’.’
Her husband John, 59, who was also on stage with her to promote their new book, told her: ‘It’s changed quite a lot really…’
