Gregg Wallace has officially been fired from MasterChef following a six-month investigation into multiple allegations of misconduct throughout his career.
The news first broke in November after 13 people who worked with Wallace across a range of shows over a 17-year period made allegations of inappropriate sexual comments. Wallace, who was a co-host on the popular BBC cooking competition at the time, stepped away from his role while the show's production company launched an investigation. It has since been confirmed that Wallace has been fired from his post and will be replaced by restaurant critic Grace Dent, but the full findings of the investigation are yet to be published.
However, the BBC has now reported that 50 more people have come forward with allegations about the former presenter, including one claim that he groped a MasterChef co-worker and another that he pulled his trousers down in front of someone and wasn't wearing any underwear. Other allegations refer to inappropriate sexual comments, and 11 women have accused Wallace of inappropriate sexual behaviour including groping and touching. Wallace has denied the allegations.
However, in what is already an unequivocal PR crisis, Wallace has shown an uncanny knack for making matters worse for himself. When the allegations first came to light last year, he jumped onto social media to decry the accusations as coming from 'a handful of middle class women of a certain age', a phrase that rightly galled the internet, and then attempted to flip the situation by asking, 'in over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks, or sexual innuendo?'.
It did not end there. In April, Wallace announced that he had been diagnosed with autism, claiming he was 'very slow to wake up' to a changing work environment and that he 'never meant to upset anyone' and 'didn't realise [he] was causing any problems'.
Understandably, Wallace's attempt to use his diagnosis as a way of downplaying the allegations did not sit well with people. 'It's completely offensive to the hundreds of neurodiverse people who live their lives not harassing, flashing or groping people to blame your actions on having autism,' reads a comment from the feminist Instagram account CheerUpLuv.
True to form, following the news that he has lost his job at MasterChef, Wallace released another clumsy statement on social media. 'I cannot sit in silence while my reputation is further damaged to protect others,' he wrote in his five-slide post, claiming he has been cleared of 'the most serious and sensational accusations'.
He went on to accuse BBC News of platforming 'legally unsafe accusations' and 'no longer providing balanced and impartial public service journalism'. Wallace continued, 'I recognise that some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate. For that, I apologise without reservation. But I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks.'
Wallace wrote that he was hired to be MasterChef's 'cheeky greengrocer', describing himself as a 'real person with warmth, character, rough edges and all'. It is not his character that is at fault, he insists, but rather the new 'sanitised world' where his 'cheeky greengrocer' persona is now seen as a problem. He then reinstated how his autism diagnosis is relevant to the investigation. 'Nothing was done to investigate my disability or protect me from what I now realise was a dangerous environment for over twenty years,' Wallace added. 'That failure is now being quietly buried.'
In a final warning, the former MasterChef reminded his followers that he 'will not go quietly' or 'be cancelled for convenience'.
Wallace is evidently concerned about his reputation, but unfortunately he has repeatedly failed to acknowledge the alleged experiences of his accusers and has dismissed them at every available opportunity. In a refreshing contrast to Wallace's own words, one of the country's most senior barristers, Baroness Helena Kennedy, who chairs a watchdog aimed at improving standards of behaviour in the creative industries, has issued him a warning.
Speaking on Newsnight, she said the public might have enjoyed Wallace's cheeky greengrocer persona, but they had not seen his 'uglier side'. Her advice to the presenter was clear: 'There may be an opportunity for you to make a comeback at some point, but don't say that all of these women have made this stuff up and don't say that it's all invented.'
Baroness Kennedy then criticised managers working in the TV industry for not dealing with concerns relating to Wallace's behaviour sooner. They have an obligation to keep their employees' behaviour in check, she said, and to nip issues in the bud as soon as possible. 'That was not done,' Kennedy continued.
Philippa Childs, the head of broadcast union Bectu, also warned Wallace not to 'gaslight' women who have come forward with claims against him. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today, she criticised Wallace for claiming he had been exonerated from some of the more serious claims before the investigation has been published. 'Even that act, of putting it out in the public domain,' she explained, 'has really gaslighted people who have legitimate complaints unfortunately.'
Wallace is clearly pursuing the line of defence that he has been wrongly and unjustly 'cancelled' and that his head has been put above the parapet to protect others in the TV industry. What he repeatedly fails to acknowledge is that more than 63 people have come forward with misconduct allegations against him – and he has lost his job following an investigation for that reason. In a sociopolitical landscape which already makes it so hostile, daunting and often unsafe for women to come forward, let's hope Baroness Kennedy and Philippa Childs' comments offer at least a modicum of reassurance that they are well within their right to do so. We can't expect the same from Wallace anytime soon.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across entertainment, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things pop culture for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow with equal respect).