Gregg Wallace was a familiar face on TV, best known for co-presenting MasterChef, as well as its spin-offs Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals.
But he has hit headlines of late after a report found that 45 out of the 83 allegations made against him were substantiated, all relating to his time on MasterChef, which he had presented alongside John Torode since 2005.
Wallace also hosted a number of other food-related programmes, including Eat Well For Less, Inside The Factory, Turn Back Time, Harvest and Supermarket Secrets.
Born in Peckham, south-east London, Wallace worked at Covent Garden fruit and vegetable market after leaving school, before becoming a restaurateur in the capital.
His broadcasting career began after he presented Talk on BBC Radio 4 with Charlie Hicks, and this then led to his first TV work, becoming the original presenter of the BBC show Saturday Kitchen in 2002.
As his fame grew, he also had a number of books published, including his 2012 autobiography, Life On A Plate.
He co-wrote Gregg’s Italian Family Cookbook with his fourth wife, Anne-Marie Sterpini, whom he married in 2016.
The couple have a son called Sid, while Wallace also has two children, Tom and Libby, from a former relationship.
He announced he was standing down from his role presenting Inside The Factory in 2023 in order to take care of Sid, who is autistic and non-verbal. Wallace has now revealed that he himself has been diagnosed with autism.
Wallace took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 and was partnered with Aliona Vilani, becoming the first couple of the series to be booted out.
He was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022 for his services to food and charity.
Wallace has been open about his fitness journey in recent years and started a weight-loss and health site called ShowMe.Fit as well as a healthy lifestyle podcast called A Piece Of Cake.
The TV star revealed that a doctor had cautioned him in 2017 that, thanks to high cholesterol, he was “heading for a heart attack” if he did not take action.
Earlier this month, he was sacked from Masterchef ahead of the report being published, while it was reported the BBC had banned Wallace from ever working at the organisation again.
