Gregg Wallace says MasterChef jokes that got him fired ‘no worse than Bake Off’ innuendos

Gregg Wallace has apologised for his MasterChef behaviour in a 1,000-word post six months after being sacked by the BBC for allegations of misconduct.

The upheld claims included one of unwelcome physical contact and another three of being in a state of undress. In total, the report says 83 allegations were made against the TV presenter, with the majority of the substantiated claims relating to inappropriate sexual language and humour, but also culturally insensitive or racist comments.

He has now shared a lengthy explanation on Substack, where he also apologised for his initial reaction to the allegations, in which he said they were made by “middle-class women of a certain age”.

But Wallace is adamant that the comments he made while filming the cookery show were no worse than the innuendos made on Channel 4 series The Great British Bake Off.

Wallace began by writing: “Let's start with the one thing I can say, without any doubt, that I got completely wrong.

“When the media first reported the allegations made against me, I went on social media and dismissed the people making complaints as 'middle-class women of a certain age’.

“It was a stupid, defensive, and arrogant thing to say. I felt like I was being backed into a corner, and I lashed out. There's no excuse for it. It was hurtful and wrong. It's not what I truly believe, and I'm sorry for what I said.”

Wallace said it was a reaction “to a situation” he “still cannot fully comprehend”, having been known as “that loud, cheeky greengrocer off the telly” for 20 years.

He said he adopted this persona for “the boisterous workplace environment”, which he claims was “full of bawdy humour”.

“I've always loved a bit of banter and a bit of a laugh, so I felt like I was fitting in on set, matching the culture that was engineered from the top down,” the former greengrocer wrote.

He suggested his inappropriate remarks stemmed from a desire to “make people laugh”, adding: “We'd make jokes you'd see on any episode of Bake Off, suggestive comments like the ones that regularly show up on The 1% Club.”

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Wallace confessed that “many of the jokes were sexual” as he “relied on innuendo quite heavily”.

“Spotted dick, nuts, the rim of a glass, little tarts… we leaned into it. That was the job. That was the culture. I behaved the way I thought was expected of me.”

He continued: “My intent was always to participate appropriately, and I believed I was doing so.”

Wallace claimed he “wasn’t a lone wolf making crude comments in a silent office”, alleging he was “part of a noisy, energetic and sometimes crude ensemble”.

He said he only became aware of issues in 2018, when he received a formal warning for inappropriate language made on another show, which he said “surprised” him as “suddenly, the very thing I'd been rewarded for across five TV shows was a problem”.

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Wallace said he found work “terrifying” after that because he became confused over “what was allowed and what was a violation because the distinction was never fully articulated”.

“I stopped socialising with anyone. I’d go to the production office and ask if I’d said anything wrong that day. I’d phone bosses late at night, asking if I was going to get in trouble. I was an unscripted presenter, paid to be energetic and funny, who was now terrified of opening his mouth.

“Yet the damage had already been done, because the majority of the complaints upheld in last year’s investigation were pre-2018. All but one, to the best of my knowledge.”

The investigation found that the “vast majority (94 per cent)” of the 83 allegations were linked to behaviour that allegedly happened between 2005 and 2018. Only one was substantiated after that time period.

Wallace capped the post by saying: “Now, I want to be very clear. I am sorry for the upset I caused. It was never, ever my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

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“I can see now that it would be hard for someone to complain about a crude joke if everyone around them was laughing along, including management.”

He also said he “never considered that contestants might not have spoken up for fear it would affect their chances in the competition”, calling that a “failing on my part”.

While Wallace accepted responsibility for the impact of his actions, he questioned “whether the standards” by which he was judged “were knowable in advance”.

At the time of Wallace’s firing, the BBC apologised to “everyone who has been impacted” by his behaviour, and admitted that “opportunities were missed to address” his conduct, stating: “We accept more could and should have been done sooner.”

“This behaviour falls below the values of the BBC and the expectations we have for anyone who works with or for us.”

In the year since the scandal, Wallace has been in the process of launching a personal training business on Instagram, and he routinely shares recipes on social media.

The Independent has contacted the BBC and Banijay for comment.