The BBC announced on Monday that it would cease collaboration with Gregg Wallace, the long-time host of its popular television show “MasterChef,” following an investigation that confirmed numerous sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Out of 83 allegations made against Mr. Wallace, 45 were substantiated, according to the broadcaster. These included three instances of him being “in a state of undress” and one instance of unwelcome physical contact. The majority of the claims involved “inappropriate sexual language and humor,” along with allegations of culturally and racially insensitive comments.
The investigation, conducted by the law firm Lewis Silkin, involved interviews with 78 witnesses over a period of seven months and examined incidents occurring between 2005 and 2024.
According to a statement from Banijay, the production company behind “MasterChef,” the “volume and consistency of substantiated allegations” rendered Mr. Wallace’s return to the show “untenable.”
Mr. Wallace denied many of the allegations in a statement on Instagram, which has since been deleted. He acknowledged that some of his humor and language were inappropriate and apologized for it, but he rejected the portrayal of himself as a caricature. He described his role as the “cheeky greengrocer” and expressed concern that his personality was now viewed as problematic in a more sanitized environment.
The investigation was initiated by Banijay in December after reports surfaced of multiple women accusing Mr. Wallace of inappropriate conduct. Most complaints against him occurred between 2005 and 2018.
The BBC stated that Mr. Wallace’s behavior “falls below the values of the BBC and the expectations we have for anyone who works with or for us.” The broadcaster acknowledged that it had missed opportunities to address his behavior earlier and accepted that more “could and should have been done sooner.”
In his deleted post, Mr. Wallace mentioned his diagnosis of autism and claimed that the BBC did not investigate his disability or provide necessary protections. Last year, he dismissed the allegations of inappropriate behavior as coming from “middle-class women of a certain age.”
The Lewis Silkin investigation revealed a lack of training for handling inappropriate workplace behavior prior to 2016 and noted that concerns raised to the production company were often addressed informally.
Shannon Kyle, the ghostwriter of Mr. Wallace’s 2012 autobiography, recounted an incident during their collaboration where Mr. Wallace answered the door wearing only a towel, which he subsequently dropped, and inappropriately touched her thigh and buttocks.
As of Monday, the BBC stated that it had not yet made a final decision regarding the broadcast of the “MasterChef” series filmed last year with Mr. Wallace as a presenter.