Gregg Wallace has stepped away from MasterChef amidst multiple historical allegations of misconduct.
The 60-year-old BBC presenter is facing accusations from 13 individuals who claim he made inappropriate sexual remarks across several shows over a span of 17 years. He has halted his work on MasterChef while the historic claims are being probed by the show's production company, Banijay UK.
The firm stated that Wallace, who denies making unsuitable sexual comments towards women, is "committed to fully cooperating throughout the process". A portion of the statement read: "This week the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with presenter Gregg Wallace on one of our shows.
A BBC spokesperson 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. Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them."
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Adam Gerrard / Sunday Mirror)Wallace, who has been married four times and divorced thrice, is currently married to Anne-Marie Sterpini since 2016, reports the Daily Star. Wallace and his wife Anne-Marie, who have been hitched since 2016, had quite the quirky beginning to their romance. It kicked off in 2013 when Anne-Marie messaged Gregg on X, formerly known as Twitter, cheekily enquiring whether rhubarb was a suitable match for duck.
Wallace, clearly amused by the tweet, responded to Anne-Marie, who is over two decades his junior, leading them to arrange a dinner date. Recounting the early days during an appearance on Lorraine, Wallace reminisced: "I sent her a message and we started sending messages. Then I sent her my phone number, this was five years ago."
He added: "She came down to London to have dinner with me, and she said it wasn't until we got to the restaurant that she was comfortable it was really me and not an impostor." Opening up to Hello! magazine, Wallace expressed his initial attraction: "I just looked at Anna's photo and thought, "Wow, she's pretty", so yes, rhubarb, which was considered an aphrodisiac in medieval times, brought us together."
The lovebirds eventually said ‘I do’ at the stunning Hever Castle in Kent, with Wallace's MasterChef colleague John Torode doing the honours as best man. In May 2019, the couple welcomed their bundle of joy Sid Massimo Wallace into the world. Addressing their noticeable age difference, Wallace has confessed it gave him pause for thought, sharing: "People look at you anyway and I felt really conscious because she was younger and I didn’t want people to judge her harshly".
The presenter faced a wave of criticism earlier this year after some accused him of neglecting his four year old autistic and non-verbal son. Wallace opened up about his usual weekend activities in The Telegraph's My Saturday column, revealing he typically spends 90 minutes with Sid before taking two hours for himself to play video games.
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@greggawallace/Instagram)The routine led to harsh comments, with some labelling him a "monster" and drawing parallels to Steve Coogan's fictional character Alan Partridge. His schedule included an early rise at 5am, a gym session with a private swim and sauna, breakfast at the local Harvester, a lunch prepared by his wife Anna, followed by gaming time.
Wallace expressed to The Mirror his feelings about the situation: "I didn't mind the mickey taking about Alan Partridge, that I understood. But I was deeply saddened by the idea I didn't spend any time with Sid, I was deeply hurt by that."
He also confessed that having another child at his age wasn't something he would have chosen, but it was important to his partner Anne-Marie. He stated: "I'm a much better father now I'm older, although another child isn't something that I would have chosen at my age. I was always very honest with Anna, but it's what she wanted and I love her. I just requested two things – that we had help in the house (so her mum moved in), and secondly that we had at least one week a year when we holidayed just the two of us."
Wallace's current wife isn't the only woman he's met on Twitter. He also connected with his ex-wife, Heidi Brown, a biology teacher who is 17 years his junior, on the social media platform.
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WireImage)Image:
UK Press via Getty Images)They moved in together in 2009, just four months after meeting, and were married by the following year. However, their marriage ended after just 15 months, with Wallace calling it a "huge mistake".
Before Heidi, Wallace was married to Denise, a pastry chef he met in 1993. They had two children together, Tom and Libby, before tying the knot in 1999. However, after five years of marriage, they divorced when Denise discovered Gregg was having an affair with one of his employees.
Wallace's first wife was Christine, whom he met when he was 24 and working as a greengrocer. Their wedding was a quick affair, celebrated with a meal at a nearby pie and mash shop. The marriage of the celebrity was notably brief, lasting a mere six weeks. In his autobiography, Wallace humorously remarked that it might have been "possibly the shortest marriage in the world".
He also confessed to realising it was a mistake even before they exchanged vows.
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