Gregg Wallace has said he was hurt by Rod Stewart’s claims that he bullied his wife Penny Lancaster when she appeared on Celebrity MasterChef.
When it emerged last year that Wallace had been dropped from the programme after facing multiple allegations of misconduct, Stewart claimed in a viral post that the host “humiliated” his wife when she appeared on the celebrity edition of the BBC cookery show, calling him a “tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully”.
Speaking to The Sun in a new interview, just weeks after a report upheld 45 allegations of misconduct against him between 2005 and 2018, Wallace said his interaction with Lancaster was “a disagreement over whether an orchid should stay in a bowl of soup”.
Wallace, 60, said the musician’s comments had upset him, adding: “I’m actually a Rod Stewart fan. I’ve been to see him twice. So that hurt me.”
“Somebody like that carries a lot of weight. But there was no bullying and no harassing.”
In his full post, Stewart, 80, wrote at the time: “So Gregg Wallace gets fired from Masterchef. Good riddance Wallace. You humiliated my wife when she was on the celebrity version of the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you? You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya. Sir Rod Stewart.”
Wallace has faced multiple claims that he made inappropriate sexual jokes, asked for the phone numbers of female production staff, and behaved unprofessionally around female colleagues on set.
On 14 July, Wallace said he was “deeply sorry” after a report – conducted by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK – upheld more than half of the 83 allegations against Wallace, including one of unwelcome physical contact and several citing inappropriate sexual language and being in a state of undress. Seventy-eight witnesses provided evidence.
He denied the allegations, and last week vowed to “not go quietly” after being dropped by the broadcaster, who said his MasterChef return is “untenable”.
It was announced the next day that Torode, his co-host of 20 years, had also been sacked from the long-running cookery show after an allegation of racist language was substantiated during the investigation into Wallace’s behaviour. Torode said he had “no recollection” of the alleged remark.
Speaking about the allegations against his former co-star Torode, Wallace told The Sun that there was “no way that man is a racist”.
“I’ve known John for 30 years and he is not a racist,” he said. “And as evidence of that, I’ll show you the incredible diversity of the people that he has championed, MasterChef winners, over the years. There is no way that man is a racist.”
“And my sympathies go out to John because I don’t want anybody to go through what I’ve been through.”
Following the investigation, Wallace unfollowed John and his wife Lisa Faulkner on social media. Wallace has now said that he and Torode are not close, saying: “We never really did get on that well. We’re two very, very different characters. But we made bloody good telly together for 20 years.”
Wallace added that the complaints against him have seen him bracketed alongside names such as sex offender Jimmy Savile.
“That is just so, so horrific,” he said.
He continued: “I’m not saying I’m not guilty of stuff, but so much has been perceived incorrectly. Things that really hurt me and hurt my family.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Wallace denied particular claims against him, saying: “I’m not a groper. People think I’ve been taking my trousers down and exposing myself – I am not a flasher. People think I’m a sex pest. I am not. I am not sexist or a misogynist, or any of it. There never were any accusations of sexual harassment.”
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