Gregg Wallace has been accused of ‘racist’ remarks made about an Asian MasterChef contestant in a fresh allegations of misconduct.
The BBC presenter allegedly made ‘Kung fu noises’ and said ‘me so horny’ while on set filming a series of the hit cooking show in 2017.
According to a former staff member who worked on the production, Wallace would make the inappropriate remarks just after the contestant walked off the set.
They told the Telegraph Wallace would regularly make the ‘very offensive’ comments in front of the filming team, but that they felt unable to report them at the time due to their junior position.
It comes amid a probe into Wallace’s behaviour while working on MasterChef, from which he has now stepped down.
A total of 13 people, including Kirsty Wark, complained about Wallace’s conduct while working with him over a 17-year period across five shows, from 2005 to 2022, the BBC revealed.
The presenter was accused of taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to ‘give her a fashion show’ and talking about his sex life to others, including telling one female colleague he wasn’t wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans.
Ms Walk claimed that on two occasions Wallace 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’.
Gregg Wallace allegedly made ‘racist’ comments about an Asian MasterChef contestant while filming the show in 2017
The BBC has said it is taking the issues raised about Wallace ‘seriously’ after he stepped down from the programme
Wallace on MasterChef with co-host John Torode. A re-emerged clip from the 2013 series showed Wallace making a ‘innuendo-laden remark’ at contestant Katy Brand
It was previously reported by the Times back in May last year that he had also allegedly offended female staff members at the Nestlé UK factory in York with comments about their weight during a ‘friendly’ conversation.
And in another instance of inappropriate behaviour, a shocking video re-emerged of Wallace approaching 2013 MasterChef contestant Katy Brand in the kitchen and remarking he would ‘munch the living daylights out of her 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.
Other inappropriate TV moments involving Wallace included a bizarre remark about ‘salty balls’ in a MasterChef contestant’s underwhelming starter in 2023.
He told Diya Kotecha-Lodhia: ‘I found those balls really quite salty.’
In 2015 while tasting a female contestant’s dessert, Wallace declared: ‘I want to take my shirt off and dive in!’
Celebrities that have now come out to complain about the presenter’s conduct include Rod Stewart and Ulrika Jonsson.
Repeats of MasterChef have allegedly now been removed by Channel 5 and – in a humorous twist – replaced by a documentary on Gregg’s the high street bakers.
The grocer turned broadcaster has insisted that it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
MailOnline revealed on Friday afternoon that some of Wallace’s friends blamed his conduct on a secret autism condition.
They said that despite never having been diagnosed, Wallace displays ‘all the classic symptoms’ including his ‘lighter filter on the subject of sex’ and ‘inability to read the room’.
The friend said: ‘Gregg carries many of the autistic symptoms, the people who know him best have been saying it for years.
”He has a light filter when it comes to sex which is common in people on the spectrum. In the modern world of TV where you can’t just dismiss some of his actions as banter.’
They added: ‘Sometimes he doesn’t interpret facial expressions and tones of voice clearly, therefore can’t decipher how a person is reacting to what he’s saying.
‘But there’s denying he’s good honest bloke.’
Wallace presenting Series 17 of MasterChef: The Professionals alongside Monica Galetti
On Friday night, a Downing Street spokesperson said the allegations around Wallace’s conduct were ‘deeply concerning’.
The spokesperson said: ‘It’s right that a thorough investigation is conducted, but this of course is one for the BBC and you will have seen their statement saying that they ‘take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place’.
‘While that process is underway it wouldn’t be right for me to comment. I believe the BBC is currently undertaking a workplace culture review to deliver clear and timely recommendations, and it’s essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously.’
MailOnline has contacted Gregg Wallace’s representatives for comment.
