Gregg Wallace is facing fresh allegations of wrongdoing by 50 people after he was reportedly sacked by MasterChef following an investigation into misconduct claims.
The MasterChef presenter, 60, announced his apparent departure on Tuesday, marking the end of his two-decade-long run with the broadcasters he issued a scathing attack on the BBC.
Wallace, who stepped back from the cooking show in November, said he chose to go public after being informed of the outcome by production company Banijay.
He told his Instagram followers he had been cleared by that report of "the most serious and sensational allegations" made against him, although he acknowledged "some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate”.
However, 50 more people who encountered Wallace across a range of shows and settings, including a former police officer, have approached BBC News with fresh allegations against him.
While the majority say Wallace made sexual comments, 11 women accuse him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, such as groping and touching.
He has vehemently denied the claims.
One woman, who worked on MasterChef between 2011 and 2013 when she was in her 20s, alleged that Wallace took his trousers down in front of her in a dressing room.
The show was produced at the time by Shine TV, a company which was acquired by Banijay in 2020.
She described Wallace’s actions as "disgusting and predatory" and was given the impression that, in a "lowly role as a production worker", she should just "be grateful and get on with it".
The woman was told by a senior member of the production team: "You're over 16, you're not being 'Jimmy Saviled'” — a reference to the late BBC presenter who raped and molested kids for more than 50 years.
Another woman who claims Wallace pulled his trousers down in front of her, this time during a photo shoot with him in 2012, said she is speaking up now because of Wallace's claim last year the allegations against him had derived from "a handful of middle-class women of a certain age".
A third woman claimed she was left feeling "absolutely horrified" and "quite sick" when Wallace groped her at a wrap party at the end of the 2013 series of MasterChef.
She says she was standing at the bar talking to Wallace and co-host John Torode as she felt a “full-handed squeeze” on her bottom.
“I turned around and it was Gregg,” she said, adding that it was done "covertly” so no one noticed, including Torode.
She believes the presenter has been protected for too long, adding: “The most senior leadership who have clearly heard these testimonies over the years and not chosen to remove him sooner, should also resign.”
Several new allegations occurred away from television, one of them during a 2000s book tour event in Nottingham.
A publicist recalled an incident when she says Wallace pushed his way into her hotel room and took off his clothes and fell asleep.
Worried about attracting negative publicity for Wallace, she decided to sleep at the edge of the bed, with her clothes on.
When he woke up, Wallace allegedly put his hand on the publicist’s bottom and commented that she had a "nice arse".
Meanwhile, a cameraman who worked on the BBC show Eat Well For Less in 2016 claimed he heard Wallace make a string of other inappropriate comments, including asking one female director, who was gay, about her "lesbian clothing".
According to internal emails sent in 2018, the BBC's then-controller for entertainment commissioning Kate Phillips confirmed that she spoke to Wallace and that aspects of his behaviour had been "unacceptable and cannot continue".
However, further claims in the years after Phillips’ conversation with Wallace have reportedly emerged.
One MasterChef worker, aged 19, said she flagged concerns about Wallace's comments about her body to a more senior production staffer in 2022, only to be told it was "just a joke".
By this stage, Banijay was the company responsible for MasterChef, which is watched by an average audience of 5 million viewers.
Numerous celebrities have publicly criticised Wallace, including former Newsnight anchor Kirsty Wark, radio presenter Aasmah Mir and Location, Location, Location host Kirstie Allsopp.
A report published in April into the BBC found that a small number of its stars and managers "behave unacceptably" at work and that bosses often failed to tackle them.
In response, the Corporation said it would introduce reforms, with chairman Samir Shah saying he would draw "a line in the sand".
A spokesman for Wallace said: "Gregg continues to co-operate fully with the ongoing Banijay UK review and as previously stated, denies engaging in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature."
On Tuesday, Wallace wrote a lengthy Instagram post in which he said the "most damaging claims" against him "were found to be baseless after a full and forensic six month investigation".
"To be clear, the Silkin's Report [sic] exonerates me of all the serious allegations which made headlines last year and finds me primarily guilty of inappropriate language between 2005 and 2008."
He added: "I will not go quietly. I will not be cancelled for convenience. I was tried by media and hung out to dry well before the facts were established."
He accused BBC News of "peddling baseless and sensationalised gossip masquerading as properly corroborated stories".
“My decision to go public now is also driven by the fact the BBC News division are intending to platform legally unsafe accusations, including claims which have already been investigated and not upheld by the BBC and found not credible by Silkins”, he said.
“The BBC is no longer providing balanced and impartial public service journalism. It is peddling baseless and sensationalised gossip masquerading as properly corroborated stories.”
Banijay said in a statement: "While the external investigation is ongoing, we won't be commenting on individual allegations. We encourage anyone wishing to raise issues or concerns to contact us in confidence."
The BBC added: "Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace. We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published."
