Gregg Wallace boasted about racially insensitive and sexual jokes that he made at the BBC

Gregg Wallace has been been embroiled in scandal in recent days after a number of people stepped forward to claim he had used inappropriate sexual language on the set of MasterChef

Under-fire Gregg Wallace boasted about racially insensitive and sexual jokes that he made at the BBC in the past.

The 60-year-old former greengrocer bragged in his 2012 memoir that he was "naughty" after landing a stint on Saturday Kitchen. He said: "I love my innuendoes, and I would make jokes all the way through, making such quips like: ‘I’ve got a Korean cookbook at home called 100 Ways to Wok your Dog’ and ‘Henry VIII liked getting head from his wives'. And, of course, anything with nuts or melons brought a smile to my face and a few cheeky words."

The telly presenter, who has been accused of inappropriate comments and behaviour behind the scenes at MasterChef, claimed he was "encouraged" to be naughty when he was asked "to front" Saturday Kitchen in its early days before it was live.

Today having played down the levels of complaints against him over the weekend, he formally apologised. He had previously claimed complaints about his behaviour came from "a handful of middle-class women of a certain age".

The MasterChef presenter, who faces various allegations including making "inappropriate sexual jokes", posted a video on his Instagram stories on Monday to issue an apology. He said: "I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.

"I wasn't in a good headspace when I posted it, I've been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion, I felt very alone, under siege yesterday when I posted it. It's obvious to me I need to take some time out, now while this investigation is under way. I hope you understand and I do hope you will accept this apology."

It follows a backlash to the comments made over the weekend with Downing Street saying his response to the accusations was "inappropriate and misogynistic". The 60-year-old faces allegations from 13 people across a range of shows over a 17-year period, as reported by BBC News on Thursday, with many others sharing their experiences in recent days. Wallace's lawyers say "it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature".

Last Thursday, it was announced that Wallace is to step away from the hit BBC cooking show while historical misconduct complaints are externally reviewed by the producer Banijay UK. New episodes of MasterChef: The Professionals, in which Wallace is a judge, are currently scheduled to air on BBC One on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Addressing the accusations in a post on Instagram on Sunday, Wallace said: "I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn't right." Wallace's statement sparked a backlash, with former Celebrity MasterChef contestants Ulrika Jonsson, Kirstie Allsopp and Emma Kennedy among those who criticised his response.

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