Gregg Wallace insists he’s the victim of a ‘pile on’ after 45 complaints were lodged regarding his conduct on MasterChef and claims the investigation process that led to his sacking was ‘not a legal one’
Gregg Wallace has launched a new defense against allegations of misconduct on MasterChef, claiming the 45 complaints upheld against him were a ‘batch’ rather than a pattern of behavior spanning two decades.
The presenter, who was sacked from the BBC soap last July following the allegations, insisted only two complaints had been raised in his 20-year tenure.
He said the remaining 43 only emerged after the first ‘sensational (and untrue)’ allegations were made public in late 2024.
In an explosive new Substack post published on Tuesday, Gregg, 61, compared it to an internal human resources (HR) process, claiming that the investigative process was ‘not a legal process’ and that ‘the standard of proof would not hold up in court.’
He claimed that after his reputation had already begun to be ‘dragged through the mud’, he was sent an ‘open invitation’ asking ‘anyone who has worked with me (or met me) to come forward and tell their stories’.
The host, who has co-hosted the popular kitchen show with John Torode, 60, for nearly 20 years, noted that throughout his career he has interacted with “tens of thousands of people” every shooting day, including six new contestants, rotating film crews, other show attendees and attendees of charity events and industry parties.
Gregg Wallace has launched a new defense against misconduct allegations on MasterChef, claiming 45 complaints upheld against him constitute a ‘pile’
The presenter, who was sacked from the BBC soap last July following the allegations, insisted only two complaints had been raised in his 20-year tenure.
‘Now imagine that among all these people, everyone who had a complaint, dislike or misremembered memory was encouraged to participate in the investigation of you,’ he wrote. ‘Do you think you will survive without any complaints being made against you?’
He claimed that “all but one” of the 45 approved complaints were from before 2018, when he said he received a formal warning about his language.
He noted that the only post-2018 complaint involved a question he asked a Celebrity MasterChef contestant about her eating habits, which he described as a ‘confirmed complaint of bullying’ raised by someone who heard the comment rather than the person concerned.
Gregg argued that the “most serious allegations” supported by the investigation were “the incident of touching at a party 17 years ago, which I confirm and believe was consensual, and three other cases which the investigation confirmed were for legitimate and non-sexually motivated reasons.”
The presenter asked readers to compare this statement with headlines about his case, saying: ‘I have many examples of stories about me that were published in the newspaper and were found to be false during the investigation.’
His latest defense comes two weeks after his Substack post, in which he called his accusers “middle-class women of a certain age” and apologized for calling the comment “stupid, defensive, and arrogant.”
In an earlier post, Gregg had attempted to justify his inappropriate sexual language and humor by comparing it to insinuations in The Great British Bake Off, claiming that he was “part of a loud, energetic and sometimes rude community” rather than “a lone wolf making rude comments in a quiet office”.
The investigation into Gregg’s conduct revealed that a total of 83 allegations had been made against him, with 45 confirmed.
He said the remaining 43 allegations only emerged after the first “sensational (and untrue)” allegations were made public in late 2024.
In an explosive new Substackpost on Tuesday, Gregg, 61, claimed the investigative process was ‘not a legal process’ and that ‘the standard of evidence will not hold up in court’
The substantiated allegations included inappropriate sexual language and humor, culturally insensitive or racist comments, unwelcome physical contact and three instances of undressing.
The BBC apologized ‘to everyone affected’ by his behavior at the time of his dismissal, acknowledged ‘missed opportunities’ regarding his behavior and stated: ‘We recognize that more could and should have been done sooner.’
The company said Gregg’s behavior ‘falls below the BBC’s values and our expectations of everyone who works with or for us’.
His attempts to defend himself were met with widespread criticism; many commenters noted that even according to his own testimony, dozens of people were disturbed enough by his behavior to file formal complaints if given the opportunity.
The presenter has been trying to rebuild her career since the scandal, launching a personal training business on Instagram and routinely sharing recipes on social media.
His former co-host John left the show in July 2025 amid allegations he used a ‘deeply offensive racist term’ at work in 2018.
John denied the allegation and said he had ‘no recollection’ of the incident and claimed he only learned of his sacking through media reports and not from the BBC or production company Banijay.
