MasterChef must be pulled OFF AIR until Gregg Wallace misconduct probe is complete, culture committee MP slams
The BBC must stop airing MasterChef until the investigation into Gregg Wallace is concluded, or else viewers may conclude that he “got away with it,” according to one incensed MP.
Rupa Huq of Labour demanded that the network take action while Wallace’s wrongdoing is being investigated.
She cautioned that for women who had gone through comparable experiences, the show’s showing could be extremely upsetting.
Ms. Huq, a member of the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) Committee of Parliament, spoke to BBC Radio4: The women concerned might find it extremely upsetting. I
“Any lady who was a part of a similar occurrence, in fact.
“If it’s on TV tonight, it appears to the average viewer that he got away with it. The BBC ought to give a clear signal, in my opinion.
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Thirteen individuals who collaborated with Wallace on various projects over a 17-year span alleged inappropriate sexual remarks and inappropriate behavior, according to a BBC News investigation.
Wallace has resigned from his production responsibilities while MasterChef’s outside business, Banijay UK, conducts an investigation.
However, Ms. Huq blasted the BBC for not taking anything to guarantee accountability and instead depending on the production firm.
“I don’t think the BBC should hide behind the production company,” she continued. They ought to hold their suppliers to a high standard. The typical viewer is unaware of the origins of the program. This program signals that everything is fine if you let it run.
If the BBC pulled the show for now and let the investigation run its course, it would send a strong message that this kind of behavior is not acceptable.
Ms Huq s remarks follow a fiery backlash led by Ulrika Jonsson, who slammedGregg Wallaceyesterday after the ex-MasterChef host s bungled attempt to defend his actions.
Sun writerUlrikacalled Wallace, 60, ignorant and arrogant after he posted a video blaming middle-class women of a certain age for complaining about him.
Other female celebrities stunned at Wallace s extraordinary rant includedJK RowlingandKirstie Allsopp, who said he once left her mortified with a gross anecdote about a sex act.
Wallace, who left the BBC1cookingshow last week after complaints about inappropriate behaviour over a number of years, lashed out on Instagram yesterday morning.
“I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years now,” he remarked. Celebrity, professional master chef, and amateur. In that time I ve worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds and all different walks of life.
Now I m reading in the paper that there have been 13 complaints in that time. I can see them coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef. This is incorrect. Over 20 years of TV, can you imagine how many women on MasterChef have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo?
His comments sparked an angry reaction from Ulrika, 57, who had previously accused Wallace of making a rape joke on the set of Celebrity MasterChef in 2017.
She said yesterday: I am nothing short of seething. Somewhere in his misogynistic, thoughtless, ancient mind he felt it appropriate to tell the world this.
Oh, Gregg. Your ignorance and arrogance knows no bounds. Firstly, you have no clue what class of women it is that have made complaints about you.
What we can ascertain is that they are a shed-load classier than you will ever be.
Secondly, when you refer to women of a certain age that is normally a reference to my generation Generation X, the older ones, the ones who are supposed to have gone into old age quietly.
And yet, the irony of this is that we are probably the hardiest bunch out there because we have been brought up on a diet of sexist, misogynistic, crude and sleazy comments and physical contact that was always surplus to requirements by the likes of Wallace, all our working lives.
Ulrika claimed he reduced a female contestant to tears by saying her dish looks like a rapist during foreplay .
And she yesterday slammed the BBC for letting him stay on TV for so long.
She said: However much the BBC considered this cheeky chappy to be popular with the public because of his simplicity, it is just not good enough to brush off any complaints with the excuse that it s just how Gregg is .
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It comes after MasterChef producers Banijay UK drafted in legal firm Lewis Silkin to investigate the allegations.
Wallace was also yesterday accused of further acts of inappropriate behaviour.
BBC warned 5 times in 7 years yet he stayed host
By JULIA ATHERLEY
THE BBC was warned about Gregg Wallace s sexist behaviour at least five times over seven years but he carried on presenting MasterChef, it has emerged.
The broadcaster carried out an HR investigation in 2018 and spoke to the star multiple times about inappropriate comments.
Celebrity MasterChef 2012 winner Emma Kennedy said she reported Wallace s behaviour to a member of the production team but did not know if it was taken any further.
Georgia Harding, a MasterChef producer from 2014-15, said she raised concerns about his behaviour but nothing was done.
In 2017, radio broadcaster Aasmah Mir went on the celebrity version and sent an email to Kate Phillips, now head of unscripted TV for the BBC, about Wallace s inappropriate comments.
In 2018, Wallace was reportedly issued with a formal warning by the BBC following an HR probe.
In 2022, director and producer Dawn Elrick said she sent a letter to the corporation with a number of anonymised accounts from people alleging Wallace acted inappropriately.
Yesterday The Sun on Sunday told how a Nestl executive had written to the BBC with concerns about Wallace s behaviour while filming a 2023 episode of Inside The Factory.
The BBC was criticised for failing to act on complaints made against convicted paedophile Huw Edwards.
It has faced a Strictly bullying row, sex allegations about comic Russell Brand, plus The One Show Jermaine Jenas s inappropriate messages.
The BBC has said: We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.
We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated.
A BBC source added: While we are not going to comment on individuals or any internal HR processes, it would be wrong to report the BBC has done nothing if or when matters have been raised with us.
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