Gregg Wallace ‘desirous about my intercourse existence and made lesbian jokes’

Tv host Gregg Wallace has been accused of constructing “lesbian jokes continuously” by means of a lady who labored on a shuttle display with him.

The lady, who we’re calling Anna, mentioned he used to be “fascinated” by means of the truth she dated girls and requested her the “logistics” of the way it labored. She is one among various staff throughout a spread of presentations who got here to BBC Information with claims concerning the TV presenter.

On Thursday, MasterChef’s manufacturing corporate mentioned Wallace is to step clear of presenting the display whilst allegations of historic misconduct are investigated.

Wallace’s legal professionals say it’s solely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. Masterchef’s manufacturing corporate Banijay UK has introduced an investigation and mentioned Wallace is co-operating.

Different allegations the BBC has heard are that Wallace mentioned spanking and threesomes in entrance of workforce.

In a video posted on Instagram on Thursday night time, Wallace mentioned: “I wish to thank all of the other people getting into contact, attaining out and appearing their reinforce.

“It is excellent of you – thanks very a lot.”

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Anna labored on Gregg Wallace’s Large Weekends in 2019. She advised us that Wallace frequently mentioned intercourse, and about domination and spanking.

“[It] used to be extremely irrelevant,” she mentioned.

She says he additionally continuously made feedback about her sexual orientation, together with when he met her spouse.

“I date girls and Gregg Wallace used to be desirous about that,” she mentioned.

She added that he requested her if she used to be “positive” she did not need to date males.

Any other lady, who we’re calling Georgina, labored at the BBC’s Consume Smartly For Much less TV display with Wallace in 2019.

She says he would continuously say irrelevant issues to her, reminiscent of making feedback that his spouse used to be handiest two years older than her.

“It made me uncomfortable,” she mentioned. “What am I supposed to mention in keeping with that?”

On some other instance, she says she needed to pass to Wallace’s automobile to kind out his parking price ticket for him.

She requested him if that used to be OK, to which he allegedly answered: “You’ll be able to come to my automobile, however are you able to deal with the truth everybody will assume you simply were given off with a star?”

Each Georgina, and her colleague, who we are calling Lisa, additionally say he got here out a WC topless in entrance of them as soon as all over a shoot and requested them to take his espresso order.

“[Wallace’s] behaviour isn’t applicable,” Lisa mentioned.

“Not to handiest proceed to place girls in those situations however to proceed publicly platforming him is a shame to our trade requirements.”

Georgina mentioned she refused to paintings on a display with him afterwards.

Any other younger feminine employee, who the BBC is looking Amanda, highlighted two stories with Wallace whilst filming the Channel 5 display, Gregg Wallace’s Large Weekends, in 2019.

The primary, she mentioned, used to be after they have been travelling in combination by means of automobile. She mentioned he took out his telephone and confirmed her footage of a lady in her lingerie.

A 2d time, she mentioned they’d simply completed filming in Italy and he or she took him again to his lodge room.

She mentioned he began appearing them his outfits for the following day, after which took off his best and mentioned “let me provide you with a way display”.

A male colleague used to be to start with within the room, however she mentioned he then left, leaving her by myself with Wallace.

She mentioned she nonetheless recollects the Millwall tattoo on his chest and that she discovered the lodge room revel in very uncomfortable.

“It is bizarre to be by myself in a room with a topless stranger.”

BBC Information, which is editorially unbiased from the broader organisation, began investigating Wallace in the summertime, after turning into conscious about allegations. The claims now we have heard are from 13 other people, throughout 5 presentations, from 2005 to 2022.

Certainly one of them used to be the broadcaster Kirsty Wark, a Superstar MasterChef contestant in 2011, who mentioned he advised “sexualised” jokes all over filming.

On Tuesday, we despatched a letter to Wallace’s representatives environment out allegations now we have heard.

Two days later, it used to be introduced that Wallace is to step clear of presenting MasterChef pending an investigation.

Since then, extra other people have come ahead with allegations concerning the presenter.

Writing on Instagram on Thursday, singer Sir Rod Stewart described Wallace as an “ill-mannered bully”, and mentioned the presenter “humiliated” his spouse when she used to be on MasterChef in 2021.

BBC Information has requested Wallace’s representatives for a touch upon Sir Rod’s publish.

• A feminine employee on MasterChef in 2019, who mentioned Wallace mentioned his intercourse existence and requested her if her new boyfriend had a pleasing backside
• A feminine employee at the BBC Excellent Meals Display in 2010, who mentioned Wallace stared at her chest
• A feminine employee on Consume Smartly For Much less in 2019, who mentioned Wallace advised her he wasn’t dressed in any boxer shorts underneath his denims
• A male employee on MasterChef in 2005-06, who mentioned Wallace frequently mentioned sexually specific issues on set. He mentioned Wallace as soon as mentioned a dish tasted like his aunt’s vagina, and on some other instance, requested a feminine runner if she put her finger up her boyfriend’s backside
• A male employee who labored on Large Weekends and different shuttle presentations between 2019 and 2022, who says Wallace mentioned threesomes with prostitutes and mentioned he “loves spanking” more than one instances an afternoon

Certainly one of Britain’s largest business unions says it used to be conscious about allegations about Wallace’s behaviour.

“I’d like to mention I’m shocked by means of those reviews, however… I assume my response is it used to be an issue of when, now not if those tales began to emerge,” Philippa Childs, head of Bectu, advised BBC Information.

She mentioned it used to be tricky for freelancers so that you can make court cases as a result of the precarious nature of the trade.

“They’re all the time all in favour of the place their subsequent process is coming from or certainly are they going so that you can identify themselves within the trade,” she mentioned.

“So there’s fairly a bent to not record, to really feel that it’s now not secure to record, to really feel that even supposing they do record, the manufacturing corporate or the broadcaster don’t seem to be going to take them critically and don’t seem to be going to do so as a result of the facility that individuals on display would possibly hang.”

The allegations come at a troublesome time for the BBC.

In October, the BBC introduced main points of a assessment into combating abuses of energy, within the wake of revelations about Huw Edwards, previously its maximum senior information presenter, who dedicated offences involving kid abuse photographs.

In November, BBC Chair Samir Shah mentioned in a speech that there “is still a way that tough other people ‘break out with it’.”

One MasterChef employee we spoke to, who we’re calling Claire, thinks that how the trade responds to allegations is on the root of the issue.

“We will have to be getting higher at coping with this, we will have to be getting higher at shutting issues down, and now not permitting famous person or reputation or energy to embolden other people to assume they may be able to act like that, and deal with other people in point of fact poorly.”

Saying its investigation on Thursday, Banijay UK, which produces MasterChef, mentioned in a remark: “This week the BBC won court cases from folks relating to historic allegations of misconduct whilst operating with presenter Gregg Wallace on one among our presentations.”

Wallace, 60, is “dedicated to completely co-operating all the way through the method”, it added.

Banijay’s remark concluded by means of encouraging somebody who sought after to lift any problems or considerations to return ahead.

A BBC spokesman mentioned: “We take any problems which can be raised with us critically and now we have tough processes in position to take care of them.”

A spokesman for Channel 5, which airs Large Weekends, mentioned: “We take any allegations of this nature extraordinarily critically.

“Now we have requested the manufacturing corporate to appear into those historic claims. The well being and wellbeing of everybody interested by our productions is essential to us and we would like all of our productions to be secure and protected puts for other people to paintings.”

Manufacturing corporate Rumpus, which produces Large Weekends, mentioned: “We don’t tolerate irrelevant behaviour on our productions.

“Our complete responsibility of care processes have been in position all over manufacturing of those sequence and any issues raised would had been investigated in response to those.”

Have you ever been suffering from problems lined on this tale? You’ll be able to proportion your stories by means of emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.united kingdom