A best-selling author has claimed under-fire controversial MasterChef star Gregg Wallace ruined her birthday with foul-mouthed sex talk for up to TWO HOURS.
Dublin-based Marisa Mackle claims she had jetted to an expensive posh five-star resort in Marbella to enjoy a show by Michael Bolton before sharing a restaurant with the singer and Apprentice host Lord Alan Sugar. But her 40th birthday celebrations in 2013 turned sour when she claims she had the misfortune to be moved to a table for her dessert with pals - beside Gregg Wallace bragging about sex and sexual positions.
She claimed: "Up until I sat down beside Gregg Wallace that was probably the best night of my life, and he turned it into one of the worst nights of my life. I've been saying for years that man, he's just got a foul mouth on him." Marissa claims she was dining at the Puente Romano hotel in Marbella on July 30, 2013 when the waitress asked if her party could move table for dessert, because they were clearing their section.
She went on to claim: "We went in, there was only one other table, and there were two men and two women and, you know, they just seemed like they were just like normal couples having a good time and laughing. I don't mind people being loud and laughing, but the next minute, I was like, hearing all this really vulgar stuff about this man. I didn't know who he was. It was just this loud English accent talking about sex positions, you know, a favourite sex position.
"And I was like, 'That's so inappropriate like, in a restaurant,' especially a really nice restaurant like that. Like this was not like some takeaway, this is a really exclusive restaurant. You know, it just actually ruined my evening. And I said to my friend 'That man is absolutely disgusting!' And I said, 'I actually don't think I can sit here any longer,' because it wasn't just once like, he was going on and on shouting, it just went on, it went on for about two hours, but there was nowhere we could move to."
If you can't see the poll, click here
New allegations come from Marisa as pressure piled on the BBC over Wallace investigation, with reports they were warned up to five times about his behaviour. On the revelations Marisa said: "I was not surprised at all. I wasn't surprised at all. The only surprise for me was that this didn't happen any sooner, because, I mean, to be shouting all that really personal... it was disgusting, like, I don't know anybody else that would sit in a restaurant and yell at the top of their voice their favourite sex positions in great detail.
"You know, he didn't care that other people were around trying to enjoy their night. And the thing is, I just think somebody who behaves like that in public, they're going to behave like that everywhere.” 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".
Image:
BBC)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 underway. 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.
The Mirror has approached Gregg for comment on Marisa's claims.
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTubeand Threads.
English (US) ·