Former MasterChef presenter claims BBC caused him ‘distress and harassment’
Former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace is seeking up to £10,000 in damages from the BBC, claiming the broadcaster caused him “distress and harassment” by failing to comply with his request for copies of his personal data, according to court documents.
Wallace is taking legal action against the BBC and BBC Studios after he was sacked from the cooking show in July.
His sacking follows a report confirming more than 40 allegations about his behavior on MasterChef, including one of unwanted physical contact and three of undressing.
Wallace has previously said he is “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or insult”.
The BBC and BBC Studios said they would not comment on ongoing legal proceedings. They have filed a defense against the allegation, but details are not yet available.
BBC News is editorially independent from the wider company.
In documents lodged at the High Court, Wallace claimed he requested “personal data” under data protection laws from both the BBC and its subsidiary BBC Studios in March.
Both requests include data regarding his “employment, contractual relationships and conduct” spanning 21 years.
In court documents, Wallace claimed he found the BBC’s request “complex” and so requested an extension of the usual one-month deadline for providing such information.
The documents show that in August the BBC emailed Wallace to apologize for the delay and say they had “taken all reasonable steps” to process the request “in a timely manner”, but Wallace still had not received a response.
The documents also claimed BBC Studios told Wallace it was withholding some of his data for “freedom of expression” reasons.
However, Wallace claimed that “not all of the plaintiff’s personal data was unlawfully provided” and that the information was “wrongly altered”.
“Due to the defendants’ failure to fully comply with these provisions [subject access request] “In the criminal complaint filed by the plaintiff for his personal data, the defendants acted contrary to their legal duties and by doing so, they distressed and harassed the plaintiff,” he said.
It said it was seeking compensation for “annoyance, harassment and loss of peace not exceeding £10,000”, as well as interest.
Wallace is also seeking a court order requiring the BBC and BBC Studios to comply with requests for its data.
Wallace’s representatives have been approached for comment.
Wallace had hosted MasterChef for 20 years but stepped down from presenting the show last year after facing a series of misconduct allegations.
Banijay, the programme’s production company, ordered an immediate investigation into the allegations by an independent law firm.
This summer, the law firm’s report found 45 allegations against Wallace were substantiated.
The report said a total of 83 allegations were made against the TV presenter, the majority of which related to inappropriate sexual language and humour, but also culturally insensitive or racist comments.
Following this report, Wallace released a statement to the PA news agency saying “none of the serious allegations against me have been confirmed”.
A separate claim that co-host John Torode used a deeply offensive racist term has also been confirmed. Torode said he had “no recollection” of the incident.
Both presenters were dismissed in July.
Last month, it was revealed that food critic Grace Dent and chef Anna Haugh were the new hosts of MasterChef.
