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Gregg Wallace has admitted using inappropriate language but claimed to have been cleared of “the most serious and sensational accusations made against me”, as he spoke out before the publication of a report into a series of allegations into his behaviour.
In a statement on social media, the former BBC presenter said he had now been diagnosed with autism. He said while his neurodiversity was discussed across “countless seasons of MasterChef”, he was given no protection.
Wallace repeatedly attacked the BBC in a furious Instagram post. It comes days before the publication of a report into allegations against him, which was commissioned by the MasterChef producers and overseen by a London law firm.
“I will not go quietly,” Wallace wrote. “I will not be cancelled for convenience. I was tried by media and hung out to dry well before the facts were established. The full story of this incredible injustice must be told and it is very much a matter of public interest.”
BBC News previously said it had heard allegations of inappropriate sexual comments and inappropriate behaviour by 13 people who worked with Wallace across a 17-year period.
The presenter first stepped away from his role on MasterChef nine months ago, after the BBC received complaints about his conduct. Among his accusers is the presenter Kirsty Wark, who was a Celebrity MasterChef contestant in 2011. She has alleged Wallace told “sexualised” jokes during filming.
It led to MasterChef producers Banijay commissioning a report into Wallace, overseen by the law firm Lewis Silkin. Its findings are due to be published later this week.
In his new five-page statement, Wallace said he had opted to speak out before the Silkins report – a “decision I do not take lightly”.
“But after 21 years of loyal service to the BBC, I cannot sit in silence while my reputation is further damaged to protect others,” he said. “The Silkin report exonerates me of all the serious allegations which made headlines last year and finds me primarily guilty of inappropriate language between 2005 and 2018.
“I recognise that some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate. For that, I apologise without reservation. But I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks.”
He claimed he had been driven to “go public” because BBC News was “intending to platform legally unsafe accusations”. He accused the broadcaster of “no longer providing balanced and impartial public service journalism”.
Wallace accused MasterChef’s makers of turning on him, despite his personality once being regarded as a crucial part of the show. He said they had also failed to protect him, despite his likely neurodiversity.
“I was hired by the BBC and MasterChef as the cheeky greengrocer. A real person with warmth, character, rough edges and all,” he said. “For over two decades, that authenticity was part of the brand. Now, in a sanitised world, that same personality is seen as a problem.
“My neurodiversity, now formally diagnosed as autism, was suspected and discussed by colleagues across countless seasons of MasterChef.
“Yet 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.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace. We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published.”
Banijay is not commenting on the report until it is officially published.
The BBC is unable to fire Wallace as it does not directly employ him. It has already accepted a series of recommendations from an independent culture review, designed to tackle unacceptable behaviour by powerful figures.
