What are the new allegations against Gregg Wallace?

Former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace is facing further allegations of inappropriately touching women, following a number of claims he made sexually inappropriate comments towards contestants and production staff on TV shows dating back several years.

The latest claims, published by BBC News on Tuesday, from three women who've come forward, days after the broadcaster reported 13 people across a range of shows said he acted inappropriately over a 17-year period.

The 60-year-old broadcaster earlier claimed in a video posted to Instagram that accusations about him had come from a "handful of middle-class women of a certain age", although a day later he apologised for "any offence that I caused" with the comment.

However the BBC announced that they had axed MasterChef's Christmas specials following the allegations.

Yahoo News runs down what Wallace has been accused of, and who has made allegations against him.

What are the new allegations?

The BBC reported on Tuesday, 3 December that Wallace is facing fresh allegations of inappropriately touching women.

One woman said he touched her bottom after an event and another said he pressed his crotch against her while filming on a different show, according to BBC News. Their report states that a woman known as Lisa (not her real name), worked with Wallace on the BBC show 'Eat Well For Less' in 2015, and described an incident where Wallace 'brushed past me at the checkout, and touched my bum with his waist and penis and laughed and said "ooh you liked that didn't you?".

The corporation also details further allegations against Wallace from two more women. 'Anna', who says she worked with Wallace on MasterChef in 2015, says she was asked to fix his bow tie in his dressing room when she noticed Wallace's trousers were 'partially lowered' with 'his pubic hair on show... you can see the top part of his penis'. She says Wallace then 'stared at her', no apology was offered, but that she didn't take the matter further.

Another complainant, named as 'Sarah', says Wallace put his hand on her bottom and 'groped' her while working at an event in 2022.

Banijay UK, which produces MasterChef, previously said Wallace is “committed to fully co-operating” with the external review while his lawyers have previously strongly denied “he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”, according to BBC News.

The new allegations from the BBC report have emerged as a former MasterChef contestant, Emma Phillips-Jennings, who featured on the show in 2009, said he thrust his groin at her face three times as she crouched in front of an oven, while joking about her 'father's meat'.

What are the allegations?

Former MasterChef contestants

Jackie Kearney, who finished fourth in MasterChef in 2011, told Sky News how Wallace "constantly" made innuendos during filming, and that one sexually inappropriate comment left her in tears.

"There were several times that he would comment on my legs, or comment on the skirts I was wearing... he made a comment once: 'If I'd known you had legs like that, maybe you'd have made it further'," she said.

Describing how she returned to MasterChef as a guest judge following the publication of her second book about vegan food in 2017, she said she wanted to give Wallace and co-presenter John Torode a copy.

Recalling how she approached Wallace during filming, she said: "I came into the studio and was like, 'Hi Gregg, I've got something for you!' And he said, 'Oh, is it a present for my c**k?'"

Broadcaster Kirsty Wark, who was a Celebrity MasterChef contestant in 2011, has described how Wallace told "sexualised" jokes during filming.

The former Newsnight host told the BBC that while crew and contestants were preparing to film, Wallace walked into the room and "launched into a soliloquy" of a "sexually inappropriate nature about his now-former wife".

"I was really shocked, I thought, what is this about? I was angry because I thought, this is just not on," Wark said.

Presenter Melanie Sykes spoke out against Wallace's behaviour in her 2023 autobiography, Illuminated – published one year before the investigation into the MasterChef host's conduct began – claiming one comment prompted her to end her career in television.

As she walked onto the Celebrity MasterChef set in 2021, Sykes claimed Wallace asked her whether models eat, which she deemed “unprofessional”, The Independent reports.

‘‘The MasterChef experience continued to be an eye-opener and some unprofessional behaviour on set was jaw-dropping," wrote Sykes, who went onto the semi-final of the competition.

Despite being on television since the 1990s, she says Wallace told her appearing on his show would help her career.

“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,’” Sykes wrote, adding: “I was done.”

Sir Rod Stewart hit out at Wallace in the wake of the allegations, suggesting he had "bullied" and "humiliated" his wife Penny Lancaster when she was on MasterChef in 2021.

Kirstie Allsopp has recalled how she was "so embarrassed" she thought she "might cry" after Wallace allegedly made a remark to her about his sex life during an encounter several years ago. Allsop said the encounter took place in the performers' lounge while she was filming a pilot for a TV quiz show alongside Wallace and his partner.

Writing on X on Sunday, the Location, Location, Location co-host said: “Within one hour of meeting Gregg Wallace he told me of a sex act that he and his partner at the time enjoyed ‘every morning’, she’d just left the room, we were filming a pilot. Did he get off on how embarrassed I was? It was totally unprofessional, I’m a #MiddleClassWomanOfaCertainAge.”

TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson told the Telegraph that Wallace was forced to apologise after making a "rape joke" during filming of Celebrity MasterChef, claiming another female contestant was "really distressed" by the alleged remark.

Dr Kate Thomas, another former contestant on the show, said that in 2008 she complained that Wallace had "sexually harassed" and "bullied" her but that "nothing was done" about it.

In 2017 radio host Aasmah Mir complained to production company Banijay UK about inappropriate comments Wallace made during filming, and is believed to have had to take her complaint to the BBC, the BBC reports.

While filming on the MasterChef set in 2017, Wallace allegedly made "racist" comments about an Asian contestant to crew when she walked off set, according to a complaint made by a former staff member, the Telegraph reports.

Wallace was alleged to have made “kung fu fighting noises”, and make remarks including “me so horny”, “me sucky sucky”.

Production staff

In addition to complaining about Wallace's behaviour towards her, Dr Thomas also described Wallace as a "racist piece of s**t", claiming he "impersonated an Indian accent to one of the Indian cameramen".

Actor and author Emma Kennedy claims Wallace “put his hands over” a photographer’s assistant’s bottom and said “cor”. The Celebrity MasterChef 2012 champion said: "I was just agog that he felt comfortable enough to do that to a woman in front of another woman... I don’t think he did it as an act of sexual aggression. I think he did it because he thought it was funny."

Several members of production staff complained about Wallace's conduct on the show, TV director and producer Dawn Elrick told Sky News, who claims these women said the former greengrocer used "lewd" and "quite filthy" language, sometimes while the cameras were still rolling, and that his behaviour amounted to "bragging in a heightened sexual way".

One former MasterChef worker told BBC News Wallace showed her topless pictures of himself and asked for massages. He is also alleged to have told a junior female colleague he wasn't wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans.

The Telegraph reports that a former colleague claimed Wallace held her head and thrust his body towards her, mimicking a sex act, when she was kneeling in front of him to clean a mark off his trousers, and walked into the MasterChef studio “completely naked except for a sock pulled over his penis” before doing a “silly dance”.

In a letter director and producer Dawn Elrick says she sent to the BBC in 2022, Wallace was accused of making lewd comments and asking for the personal phone numbers of female production staff. She told the Observer the letter had been submitted with the support of industry union Bectu, and that the BBC said each individual would have to make their own complaint directly. She says she received nothing further from the corporation.

The Sunday Telegraph reported producer Georgia Harding, who worked on MasterChef between 2014 and 2015 and later Eat Well For Less, claimed she raised concerns about “inappropriate” behaviour from him while working on the show.

She alleged the presenter undressed in front of colleagues and “made inappropriate sexual jokes” in front of the crew and people appearing on the shows, and said “nothing was done” about concerns raised, claiming there was “an acceptance” of his behaviour.

Additional accusations

In addition to his behaviour on MasterChef, Wallace is facing accusations related to other shows, with women who worked on Big Weekends and Eat Well for Less? alleging he made "highly inappropriate" comments about sex.

A woman referred to as Anna, who worked on the Channel 5 show, told BBC News that Wallace was “fascinated” that she dated women and asked her the “logistics” of how it worked. She also said he reportedly talked about sex, domination and spanking, which she said was “highly inappropriate”.

Another woman who worked on the show, who BBC News has called Amanda, said Wallace allegedly showed her photos of a woman in her underwear while they were travelling in a car together.

She also recalled that he allegedly started showing her and another male colleague his outfits for the next day in his hotel room in Italy after they had finished filming, and that he took off his top and said: “let me give you a fashion show”.

A female worker on the BBC Good Food Show in 2010 claimed Wallace stared at her chest; and a male worker on MasterChef in 2005-06 said Wallace regularly made sexually explicit comments on set.

Meanwhile, Shannon Kyle, the ghostwriter of his 2012 autobiography Life On A Plate, has claimed he sexually harassed her during the writing of the book.

Allegations, reported by BBC Newsnight, include Wallace answering a door wearing only a towel, which he later dropped, as well as touching her inappropriately and making sexual suggestions. Wallace denied these claims.

What has Gregg Wallace said in response?

After stepping down from MasterChef, Wallace shared a message in a video on Instagram on Thursday evening, saying: “I would like to thank all the people getting in touch, reaching out and showing their support. It’s good of you, thank you very much.”

Sharing another video on the social media platform on Sunday morning, Wallace said he has worked with more than 4,000 contestants "of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life".

"Apparently now, I'm reading in the paper, there's been 13 complaints in that time," he said. "I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn't right."

In a second clip posted on Sunday, he said: "In 20 years, over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks, or sexual innuendo, can you imagine?"

Wallace subsequently apologised on Monday for the comments about middle-aged women saying he "wasn’t in a good headspace when I posted it".

"I’ve been under a huge amount of stress," he said. “It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out, now while this investigation is under way. I hope you understand and I do hope you will accept this apology.”

What has the BBC said?

In response to the letter sent by Elrick, a BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster has "robust processes" to handle complaints "swiftly and appropriately" and added the corporation "will always listen if people want to make us aware of something directly".

Responding to claims by the Sunday Times that a BBC executive warned Wallace about his behaviour in 2017 following Aasmah Mir's complaint, the broadcaster said: "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. It would be inappropriate for us to comment on anything that could form part of Banijay's ongoing investigation or otherwise influence it."

A BBC source was quoted by the PA news agency as saying: "It would be wrong to report the BBC has done nothing if or when matters have been raised with us – not least because it is already being widely reported there were interventions in both 2017 and 2018 where action was taken.

"We continue to urge caution about pre-judging any of this, particularly the involvement of BBC staff members and any inference they have not acted appropriately."

The BBC appeared to defy calls to take MasterChef off air on 2 December, the Telegraph reports, with a spokesperson for the corporation saying: “MasterChef is life-changing for the chefs that take part, and the show is about more than one individual.”

Then on 4 December, Sky News reported that the BBC was alerted to Wallace's "unacceptable" behaviour while filming Inside The Factory more than 18 months ago. A memo to staff at the Nestle factory in York shows concerns were raised with both the broadcaster and production company Voltage TV after Wallace's final visit in February 2023.

What has Banijay UK said?

On Thursday, Banijay UK said the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to “historical allegations of misconduct” while working with Wallace, adding that he is “committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”.

Banijay UK confirmed on Saturday it had appointed law firm Lewis Silkin to lead an investigation into Wallace’s alleged behaviour. A spokesperson for the production company said the firm has a "highly experienced specialist investigations team which has overseen a broad range of high-profile workplace investigations".

What has Channel 5 said?

A Channel 5 spokesperson said: “We take any allegations of this nature extremely seriously. We have asked the production company to look into these historical claims.

“The health and wellbeing of everyone involved in our productions is very important to us and we want all of our productions to be safe and secure places for people to work.”

Production company Rumpus Media, which produces Big Weekends, added: “We do not tolerate inappropriate behaviour on our productions. Our comprehensive duty of care processes were in place during production of these series and any matters raised would have been investigated in accordance with these.”

Yahoo has contacted BBC, Gregg Wallace and Banijay for comment.