Gregg Wallace's crazy love life and savage comments he's made about his ex wives

Masterchef's Gregg Wallace is best known for his cooking prowess and often harsh culinary feedback - but he's led a colourful love life away from the kitchen.

The father of three, who has this week announced he will be taking a step back from Masterchef amid misconduct allegations, has been down the aisle four times. And there's been plenty of drama along the way.

From a shockingly short six-week marriage that caused him housing woes to another he came to regard as a "huge mistake", Gregg, 60, certainly has plenty of experience when it comes to the rockier side of romance.

Here, the Mirror takes a look at Gregg's wild love life...

Christine

Gregg met first wife Christine, his first wife, who he met while working in a Greengrocer's shop. The couple tied the knot in 1991, when Gregg was just 24 years old, in what was an impromptu ceremony followed by dinner at a pie and mash shop.

Their newlywed bliss didn't last long, however, with Christine walking out on Gregg just six weeks after they said 'I do'. In his autobiography, Gregg described their blink-and-you-missed-it marriage as the "shortest marriage in the world".

Addressing his four marriages during an appearance on the White Wine Question Time podcast, Gregg advised: "Did I have lessons from each one [of my marriages]? The first one lasted six weeks. I would say don't marry anyone because you are worried about losing your house.

"So there is the first one. We bought a small house together in Bermondsey, and then we broke up, and I thought, 'Well, this is terrible. What is going to happen to the house?' I have worked so hard all my life, what is now going to happen?"

Denise Lovall

Gregg married pastry chef Denise in 1999, and went on to welcome children Tom, 29, and Libby, 26. They ended up parting ways on in 2004, after it emerged that Gregg had been unfaithful.

In a 2009 interview with People, at around the same time Gregg met his third wife Heidi Brown, Denise raged that her ex hubby would "never change".

Tragically, Denise passed away in 2017 following difficulties with alcoholism. Opening up about her death during an interview with The Times, Gregg, who had custody of their kids, said: “She was so ill and it's so sad... I've had some pretty bad press and people get me wrong.

"They think I'm a Millwall football hooligan and a womaniser, but I'm not. I like reading history books with a glass of fine wine. And family. Like I say, I love family life.”

Heidi Brown

In 2011, Gregg married Heidi Brown, a woman 17 years his senior. The marriage lasted just 15 months and appears to have had some rocky moments.

It was previously claimed that Heidi once gave Gregg her passport to reassure him that she wouldn't leave. In an interview with the Daily Mail back in 2012, she described her ex as a "difficult man" who was also "quite needy" and "difficult to deal with".

Heidi also reportedly wrote Gregg extensive to-do lists, which he has also previously opened up about. He once explained: "It starts off every morning with 'yoghurt', then 'leg band' [he has a leg injury], then it’ll be 'teeth', then it’ll say 'tablets' because I’ve got to take my cholesterol tablets and vitamin C, then 'check BBC News'.

"Those are all the things I must do before I leave the flat. Then it’ll say ' Twitter ' because I want to tweet twice a day, then it’ll say 'H' for Heidi because of all the things I need to discuss with her. She runs the finances, the children and my diary. She also helped me with my diet and fitness, which means she was all over every aspect of my life."

During the early days of their romance, Heidi would drive 'six or seven hours' from Cumbria to Kent every single week to spend time with her beau. She shared: "Sometimes he’s a difficult man, he can be quite moody. He’s very driven and works incredibly hard, which makes him stressed. He’s also quite needy. I was finding it more difficult to deal with." She said she 'grew more and more tired' and said it 'never seemed quite enough'.

And it would appear that Gregg doesn't look back fondly on his third attempt at marital bliss. During the aforementioned White Wine Question Time podcast, Gregg confessed: "The second one, we were together for 14 years, and the third one was a huge mistake. Probably the unhappiest I have ever been in my life, but she was a teacher and was really good with the kids."

Anna

Gregg is now married to Anne-Marie Sterpini, 37, whom he affectionately refers to as Anna. The couple, who have a 20-year age gap, share a four-year-old son, Sid, who has autism. The couple reportedly met via Twitter when Anna quizzed the cookery expert about whether rhubarb really went well with duck after seeing him try a recipe on TV.

He told HELLO! Magazine: "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."

Opening up about their love story during an appearance on ITV's Lorraine, Gregg revealed he'd sent Anna a message on Twitter, and they began messaging back and forth. He confessed: "Then I sent her my phone number, this was five years ago."

However, Anna wasn't 100 per cent certain that he was the real deal until they met for the first time in person. "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," he continued.

Anna also delivered an ultimatum before things got serious, telling Gregg that they could only be together if he wanted to have more children with her. Speaking with Event Magazine, Gregg, who already had two children from a previous relationship, said: "When you fall in love with a younger woman, you’ve got to realise that the chances are they are going to want a family.

"I remember [her] saying to me, 'I’m going to want to get married and have children. If that’s not what you want, then don’t mess me about'."

The pair tied the knot at Hever Castle in August 2016 after three years of dating, exchanging their vows in front of guests including John Torode, who was Gregg's best man, Lisa Faulkner, Marcus Wareing, and Monica Galetti. This was Gregg's fourth marriage and he previously told Lorraine that he thinks it was all to do with luck. "I think it's just luck, and I got very lucky this time. Very lucky," he said.

In an interview with Heat Magazine, Gregg gushed about his family, declaring: "I'm happy. I'm very much in love with my wife… I just like being with Anna. I like her company, and she's one of the best amateur cooks I've ever met." He also revealed that Anna does most of the cooking in the house, and he doesn't get involved or offer any advice.

However, Gregg has previously been criticised after a Guardian piece about his Saturday regime quoted him as saying he "wouldn't have chosen" to have Sid. During another chat about his weekend routine and home life in The Telegraph, Gregg said: "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."

Speaking to Kate Thornton on the White Wine Question Time podcast about his love for Anna, Gregg said: "What has love taught me? That it is an absolute game of chance and that is it. It is a complete and utter lottery. I am very fortunate I got the winning ticket. I won the Euro Millions the day that young lady walked into my life. She popped up on my timeline on Twitter."

During this same episode, Gregg explained that meeting people in real life at a bar was difficult, given his fame, asserting: "It is because I am on television. I can't walk into bars."

"You can't chat anyone up at work because the HR department would sack you. What I like about Twitter is that it is not a dating site. You can just have friendly chats with people," he told the host.

Despite this being his fourth time down the aisle, Gregg was keen for everyone to know he was serious about his relationship and wasn't rushing into another marriage. He told HELLO! Magazine: "Meeting Anna has brought me what I think I've always been searching for – that big, warm family dynamic, and there's real strength in that.

"I'm very conscious of people thinking I just do this willy-nilly. But we haven't rushed into this – we've been together for three years, and I truly have never met anyone like Anna." The presenter went on to share how she was his 'dream girl' and is 'beautiful inside and out'.

Since getting married, the couple have also spoken about their 22-year age gap, with Gregg making jokes about it from time to time - especially after the birth of their son, Sid, in May 2019. Speaking on Loose Women, panelist Judi Love asked him what it was like to be an older dad and Gregg replied that he was happy that Anna has someone close to her age to keep her company.

He joked, "Baby Sid. You haven't met Mrs Wallace, but I was really pleased she had a baby because it's someone at home more her own age to talk to."

Since getting married a fourth time and welcoming his third child, Gregg claims Anna has 'revolutionised' his life, as he's made some big lifestyle changes to support his family.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain in January this year, he explained: "That young woman has revolutionised my life, there's a 22-year age gap, we have been together ten years and have a son, Sid, and I want to be there for them." He went on to reveal his fitness journey and how he'd lost five stone.

This follows Gregg's announcement that he is stepping back from MasterChef as the BBC probe continues. A statement released by the show’s production company, Banijay UK, reads: “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.

“Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate. While this review is underway, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully cooperating throughout the process."

The statement continues: “Banijay UK’s duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set. Whilst these are historical allegations, incidences brought to our attention where these expectations are not met, are thoroughly investigated and addressed appropriately.”

Last month, it was reported that Gregg was being investigated for making allegedly inappropriate remarks to a female BBC employee in 2018. After news of these alleged comments broke, Gregg took to Instagram to deny that his remarks had been sexual in nature. He told followers: "With reference to what's in the newspapers, these allegations were investigated by the BBC six years ago - and my comments were found to be not sexual. I repeat, not sexual. Thank you for your time."

He later clarified: "Something else that I feel very strongly about, strong enough to be on here, nobody six years ago or since has accused me of flirting with anybody or hitting on anybody. And that's important to me, and I say this for my wife Anna, who I've been true to and madly in love with since the day I met her.

"I don't want anybody to misunderstand this and make it look like I was flirting with somebody. Nobody accused me of that, and I never have."

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