Gregg Wallace is currently being investigated regarding a series of sexual harassment allegations. Photo / Getty Images
Gregg Wallace is currently being investigated regarding a series of sexual harassment allegations. Photo / Getty Images
The presenter is allegedly resigned to the likelihood of having to leave the cooking show following multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour while filming.
The presenter is said to have told friends “I’m f***ed” after he “stepped away” from his role on the programme following the allegations.
Wallace, 60, is facing multiple allegations of behaving inappropriately while filming shows, including MasterChef. His lawyers have strongly denied that “he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
“Gregg’s conceded he has lost everything,” one source told the Sun. “To put it bluntly, he’s told people, ‘I’m f***ed’. He came out swinging, but he has quietly conceded that he knows his time on MasterChef is over and that he will be stepping aside.
“The BBC and Banijay UK [which produces MasterChef for the BBC] have now spoken to a number of different individuals, and they know they must be seen to take action. Gregg knows the time will come when he has to step aside and, as much as that pains him, it seems he has come to terms with it.”
Gregg Wallace with fellow MasterChef co-host John Torode. Photo / Getty Images
Banijay UK is conducting a review to “fully and impartially investigate” claims about Wallace’s conduct. The Sun also reported that he is expected to be replaced by a female presenter on MasterChef.
Earlier this month, Wallace claimed the allegations against him came from a “handful of middle-class women of a certain age”. He later apologised for the remarks, saying he was under a “huge amount of stress”.
The Telegraph’s investigations team heard from a former colleague who claimed Wallace held her head and thrust his body towards her while mimicking a sex act when she was kneeling in front of him to clean a mark off his trousers.
One complainant claimed the presenter walked into the MasterChef studio “completely naked except for a sock pulled over his penis” before doing a “silly dance”.
It has since emerged that some complaints date back more than a decade. Emma Kennedy, who won Celebrity MasterChef in 2012, claimed she had seen the presenter “grope” a camera assistant during a photoshoot that year.
A BBC spokesman said: “When issues have been raised with the BBC, we have taken action, referring issues to the relevant production company and challenging his behaviour directly, as has been widely reported.”
“We hope Banijay UK’s independent investigation can be concluded rigorously and as swiftly as possible. We want the review to follow due process and ensure fairness to all involved. We will provide whatever assistance we can to the investigation. We are already running our own review into workplace culture.”
A spokesman for Banijay previously said it was conducting “an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate”.
Wallace’s representatives were approached for comment.
