MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace was reportedly allowed to continue hosting MasterChef despite forced to quit another BBC show after allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
The 60-year-old telly star has been hit with claims of making inappropriate sexual remarks and jests, levelled by 13 people over 17 years.
He has strongly denied allegations and has taken action by hanging up his apron at MasterChef while an investigation takes place.
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(Image: BBC/Voltage TV)
But new reports claim he got removed from the Nestlé factory floor while filming Inside The Factory. Allegedly, he made inappropriate comments about the weight of staff working on the Aero chocolate bar, the Mirror reports.
The claims, from last year, led to Gregg stepping away from the BBC show while continuing with MasterChef. A source told The Sun: “He upset some of the female workers by joking along the lines of ‘working in a chocolate factory is the reason you’re fat’. It really upset them.”
In the meantime, MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK have retained law firm Lewis Silkin to investigate the alleged misconduct.
A Banijay UK spokesperson said: “Lewis Silkin is a major City law firm with a highly experienced specialist investigations team which has overseen a broad range of high-profile workplace investigations. Banijay UK has been impressed by the firm’s rigorous, in-depth, and impartial analysis and reporting.”
They said anyone wishing to raise further concerns could contact the investigation team via atbanijayinvestigation@lewissilkin.com.
The spokesperson added: “All information will be handled sensitively, and names of those providing evidence to the team will be kept confidential.” They said earlier in the week that Wallace is “committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”.
Kirsty Wark, the ex-Newsnight hard-hitter, and twelve others lobbed accusations against the MasterChef star for allegedly dishing out inappropriate remarks.
Wallace, a former fruit-and-veg seller who ballooned his 1989 start-up into a £7.5M turnover behemoth, is cooperating with the proble.
His lawyers said: “It is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.”
Both the BBC and Gregg Wallace have been contacted for comment.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
