Friends of presenter Gregg Wallace have defended the former MasterChef star and claimed that his autism stops the TV star from sporting underwear and other tight pieces of clothing
Gregg Wallace’s autism means he can’t wear underwear, his friends claim.
They’ve doubled down on the defence that his condition is partly to blame for his inappropriate behaviour on the MasterChef set. Their claims were made following reports that he has been sacked following an investigation by production firm Banijay into alleged misconduct.
His pals said Gregg has “autistic hypersensitivity” which causes exaggerated sensory experience, which they claim has left him with the “inability to wear underwear because of his autistic hypersensitivity to labels and tight clothing”.
The TV presenter, 60, has argued that his autism, which was only formally diagnosed recently, means that he misread social situations. Allies say it has led him to have an “oddity of filters and boundaries”.
However, charities and groups working with disabled people have slammed the suggested link between the misconduct claims and his autism diagnosis. Dan Harris, who runs the charity Neurodiversity in Business, said: “Autism is not a free pass for bad behaviour.“
“Comments like this stigmatise us and add an unfortunate negative focus on our community.”
Seema Flower of disabilities consultancy Blind Ambition said there is “no excuse” for being inappropriate to people: “Where does it leave us if we use autism as excuse to behave in whatever way we like?”
In a statement on 8 July, Wallace said he had been “cleared of the most serious and sensational accusations” made against him. The presenter has apologised for some of the claims about his use of inappropriate “humour and language”.
However, Gregg has insisted that the most damaging claims against him are “baseless” and that he has been unfairly targeted by the BBC. He said: “I will not go quietly.“
“I will not be cancelled for convenience. Nothing was done to investigate my disability or protect me from what I now realise was a dangerous environment for over 20 years. That failure is now being quietly buried.”
His statement was published hours before BBC News reported that 50 more people had made claims against him. Gregg stepped back from presenting the cooking show last November following accusations that he made sexual comments on a range of programmes.
The BBC said: “We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings published.” A spokesperson for Wallace said he “denies engaging in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
