Gregg Wallace has come forward to address his controversial remarks about ‘middle-aged women’ and has extended an apology. In a fresh Instagram video posted on Monday, the MasterChef presenter expressed his regret: “I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.”
He admitted to not being in the right frame of mind when he made the post, citing immense stress and emotional turmoil: “I wasn’t in a good headspace when I posted it, I’ve been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion, I felt very alone, under siege yesterday when I posted it.”
Wallace acknowledged the need for a break, especially during the ongoing investigation: “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.”
The 60 year old TV personality has been caught up in controversy recently after several individuals alleged he had used sexually inappropriate language on the set of his BBC programme.
Further claims have surfaced accusing him of groping women and using racist language – accusations he has vehemently denied. In an attempt to tackle these allegations head-on, Gregg released a series of videos on Instagram Stories on Sunday, where he claimed those making the allegations were “a handful of middle class women of a certain age”, reports the Mirror.
In a candid Instagram Stories video,Wallace addressed his followers, saying: “I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years. Amateur, Celebrity and Professional MasterChef. And in that time, I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life. And apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time. In the newspaper 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.”
He continued: “In 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants, on MasterChef have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo. Can you imagine?” It’s reported that Gregg is seething after his MasterChef co-host John Torode stayed silent during the storm of allegations about his behaviour at work. He’s even stopped following John and his wife, Lisa Faulkner, on Instagram.
Insiders suggest that Wallace is hurt by John’s silence, especially after accusations from well-known figures like Sir Rod Stewart, Kirsty Wark, Charlotte Crosby, and Ulrika Jonsson.
A source commented: “Gregg is absolutely furious and is convinced he has done nothing wrong. Seeing John keeping quiet amid all of this has irked him hugely.
“Gregg and John have been colleagues for almost two decades and while they aren’t the closest of friends, Gregg feels John could say something.
“He has deleted them from his Instagram account now and unfollowed both of them. It might seem petty from Gregg but he is furious about how this has all played out,” divulged an insider to The Sun. Avoiding the furore surrounding his former co-star initially, John was seen uploading snaps from the gym following a vigorous spin session instead of commenting on Wallace’s exit from their acclaimed BBC series amidst allegations of misconduct over 17 years.
John unabashedly shared a ‘Love spin’ captioned image post-workout, accentuating it with “Another bloody great class thank you”, seemingly indifferent to the recent unfolding drama. After nearly two decades of workspace proximity in Masterchef, it’s been suggested there was substantial unease between the duo off-camera.
Join the Daily Record’s WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
In a remarkable disclosure, John once admitted: “It’s funny, we’ve never been friends. We’ve not been to each other’s houses… He’s so OCD, he wouldn’t know what to do.”
John previously disclosed to The Times in 2022, that one of Wallace’s habits significantly vexed his wife. Reflecting on the instance, John said he wasn’t ‘very happy’ when Wallace interrupted his sleep with early phone calls: “With Gregg my issue is the 6am phone calls. Last time it happened I wasn’t very happy and I said, ‘Gregg, mate, it’s 6am’. And he said, ‘But you’re on my list! ‘ That’s the thing with Gregg, he gets up very early and his whole life is diarised and run on lists.”
Following the interview, the MasterChef judge reported that the premature calls ceased instantly, as he quipped: “As soon as that article came out those calls stopped.”
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.