The BBC has pulled its planned Masterchef Christmas specials amid a series of allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behaviour against presenter Gregg Wallace.
The corporation has now cancelled its two festive episodes, which featured celebrities including The Wanted singer Max George, Emmerdale actor Amy Walsh, reality star Luca Bish and comedian Shazia Mira.
The second, called MasterChef Meets Strictly Festive Extravaganza, was due to feature Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden, Gorka Marquez, Kai Widdrington and Nancy Xu, with Motsi Mabuse setting a challenge.
The BBC previously said it would continue airing all scheduled episodes of Masterchef, but the announcement today is a departure from its stance. It comes after the BBC was criticised for showing a semi-final of the current series of Masterchef: The Professionals despite the ongoing storm surrounding its co-host Wallace.
Wallace, 60, has stepped back from the BBC‘s Masterchef while allegations into alleged misconduct are investigated.
He is facing claims from at least 13 women across five shows over a 17-year preiod, who have accused him of inappropriate behaviour, including roaming around on set naked with a sock on his penis, inappropriate jokes and groping crew members.
Other allegations include talking openly about his sex life on set, including details of intimate acts, flirting with crew members and asking younger female colleagues for their numbers.
Wallace’s lawyers say ‘it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature’.
The BBC has pulled its planned Masterchef Christmas specials amid a series of allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behaviour against presenter Gregg Wallace
Masterchef: The Professionals is hosted by Gregg Wallace and Monica Galetti – with the latest episode airing last night
Wallace co-hosted Masterchef for 17 years alongside John Torode (left) – yesterday, Wallace unfollowed Torode on social media
The sudden announcement means BBC bosses appear to be reconsidering their stance after previously pledging all filmed episodes would continue to be shown.
‘MasterChef is life-changing for the chefs that take part and the show is about more than one individual,’ a BBC source said on Monday afternoon.
But in a dramatic u-turn the BBC has not only cancelled its Masterchef Christmas specials, but also the rerun of three episodes of Inside The Factory, a show Wallace hosted until leaving under a cloud earlier this year.
Wallace allegedly offended certain female staff members at the Nestlé UK factory in York with comments about their weight during a ‘friendly’ conversation.
The comments were non-sexual but were deemed ‘inappropriate’ and a complaint was lodged with Voltage TV, the production company responsible for developing the show.
‘He was rude towards staff and continued to talk in a derogatory manner, especially to women.
‘He was given a talking-to and was appalled that he had caused such offence,’ a source said.
Voltage TV asked Wallace to moderate his language and filming continued – but his behaviour seemingly didn’t change.
At least 13 people have made a formal complaint against Wallace, while other celebrities and former contestants have also spoken about his alleged behaviour
Sykes (centre) today claimed Gregg Wallace greeted her on set by asking if models eat, which she said she found ‘unprofessional’
Gregg Wallace (pictured) last week stepped away from hosting the show after nearly 20 years. His absence comes while allegations of inappropriate comments he made towards staff and celebrity guests over 17 years are investigated
Staff reportedly informed management that they did not want the show to return while Wallace remained at the helm.
A source said: ‘He felt that he was just trying to be friendly but no longer knew what the right thing to say was any more and decided to leave.’
A Nestlé insider told The Times: ‘He comes in cracking jokes but is from a very different world to our workers.’
Celebrities including actress Emma Kennedy, former Newsnight host Katie Wark and even Sir Rod Stewart have spoken out about alleged sexual behaviour and ‘bullying’.
Today, Melanie Sykes said Wallace was the reason she left her TV career behind, while Vanessa Feltz alleged he had told a lewd sex story about his wife in a BBC lift.
Sykes said she made an informal complaint against Wallace, and claimed she found conduct on the MasterChef set ‘jaw-dropping’.
And broadcaster Vanessa Feltz claimed he had described a sex act he had performed on his wife while in a BBC lift with her friend.
Speaking on her YouTube channel, she said: ‘My friend did not know Greg Wallace. Had never met him before, and in the lift was a young girl who worked on another show.
‘So the three of them were going up in the lift together and completely unprompted Greg Wallace described a sex act that he had performed on his then-wife that morning.
‘So my friend had not met Greg Wallace before, hadn’t asked him about his sex life. Was simply taking him to participate in a BBC programme, and the young lady in the lift was just an innocent passenger.
‘So this is something that a very close friend and associate of mine told me about at the time.
‘What did anyone do about it? Of course, absolutely nothing.’
It follows ongoing backlash after Wallace took to Instagram on Sunday with a furious rant in which he accused the allegations of being made by a handful of ‘middle-class women of a certain age’.
Wallace issued an apology on Monday for any ‘offence’ or ‘upset’ he caused with his statement over the weekend, saying: ‘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.’
He added: ‘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.’
His apology came after it sparked a backlash, with Downing Street saying his response to the accusations was ‘inappropriate and misogynistic’.
Others have branded the video a ‘classic’ non-apology.
The presenter, 60, apologised after his controversial comments on Instagram over the weekend caused another PR storm, blaming ‘a huge amount of stress’ and ‘a lot of emotion’ for the error.
The U-turn came hours after an insider told MailOnline he had ‘gone rogue’ and was ignoring ‘all advice’ about how to salvage his TV career following the scandal.
Wallace, who has stepped back from the BBC‘s MasterChef while allegations into alleged sexual misconduct are investigated, said: ‘I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I have caused to a lot of people’.
TV psychologist Jo Hemmings said: ‘When is an apology, not an apology? Gregg Wallace backtracking on his misogyny to salvage his career, but no regrets about his long-term inappropriate behaviour’.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘As we have said, MasterChef is an amazing competition which is life-changing for the chefs taking part and the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals is continuing as planned.
‘The celebrity Christmas specials are obviously a different type of show and in the current circumstances we have decided not to broadcast them.’
This is a breaking news story and is being updated.
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