Lisa Faulkner, wife of John Torode, has finally broken her silence with a touching tribute on Instagram amidst the Gregg Wallace scandal. The MasterChef judge temporarily stepped down last week while an investigation takes place following allegations of inappropriate behaviour on the hit BBC show.
Up until now, Lisa, 52, had not commented on the controversy which has seen the MasterChef Christmas specials pulled from the airwaves. In her heartfelt post, she shared a nostalgic photo, captioning it: "Happy heavenly birthday Nanna, miss you so much."
Gregg, 60, is reportedly seething that neither Lisa nor his long-time co-host John have publicly supported him during the furore. After a string of high-profile figures including Sir Rod Stewart and Ulrika Jonsson made explosive claims, Gregg took the bold step of unfollowing both John and Lisa on social media.
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Sources claim that he's particularly hurt by John's silence, especially given their two-decade-long partnership on the show.
The allegations against Gregg span over 17 years, with 13 individuals accusing him of making unsuitable sexual comments and jokes. He has vehemently denied these accusations through a statement from his legal team, reports the Mirror.
With John opting to stay out of the fray, Gregg has cut digital ties, unfollowing the culinary couple on Instagram.
After more accusations emerged, Gregg spoke out on social media to claim it was "middle class women of a certain age" who were complaining. His words did not sit well with fans, who accused him this time of misogyny.
He soon shared another video apologising for "any offence caused".
Previously, Lisa, 52, didn't hold back at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, claiming Gregg was a non-stop joke machine during her stint on MasterChef while she was there to plug their new cookbook, John and Lisa's Kitchen. She recounted one of Gregg's alleged off-colour gags, confessing: "I'm probably not allowed to say this. You're just sitting there and if you're on the front bench just chopping away thinking, 'I've got 10 minutes left', and he's saying, 'So this girl walked into a bar...' And I'm going, 'Please, I don't want to hear this joke'."
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