John Torode's wife Lisa Faulkner's telling eight-word Gregg Wallace remark before scandal

Lisa Faulkner spoke out on Gregg's behaviour (Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Lisa Faulkner, the Holby City star and wife of fellow MasterChef judge  John Torode, has claimed that Gregg Wallace, a fellow MasterChef star, made 'rude joke after rude joke' during her time on the show. This comes amidst allegations that Wallace made inappropriate sexual comments towards a female BBC staff member in 2018, a claim he denies, stating the comments were investigated at the time and found "not to be sexual".

Further accusations have been levelled against the presenter for making inappropriate sexual remarks across various shows over a 17-year span. The BBC News reported additional allegations, including instances of the presenter "talking openly about his sex life, taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to 'give her a fashion show', and telling a junior female colleague he was not wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans".

A statement from Banijay UK, the show's production company, said that 60 year old Gregg is "committed to fully cooperating throughout the process". It was announced earlier today that Gregg would be stepping down from his role on the long-standing cooking competition.

Gregg Wallace has stepped down from Masterchef (Image: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Lisa, who won Celebrity MasterChef in 2010 and later married Torode in 2019, recently discussed the jokes made by Wallace. Last week, she promoted their new cookbook, John and Lisa's Kitchen, at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.

The Daily Mail reports her telling the crowd: "Gregg was telling – I'm probably not allowed to say this...Gregg just told rude joke after rude joke to the crew. You're just sitting there and if you're on the front bench just chopping away thinking, 'I've got ten minutes left', and he's saying, 'So this girl walked into a bar...'" She expressed her discomfort, continuing, "And I'm going, 'Please, I don't want to hear this joke'.", reports the Mirror.

John further commented: "It's changed quite a lot really..."

Lisa Faulkner and John Torode have their own cooking show on ITV (Image: ITV)

In recent developments, it has come to light that Gregg will be stepping down from his long-standing role as host of MasterChef while the BBC looks into complaints regarding historic claims of inappropriate conduct. While there is no confirmation whether today's announced investigation is tied to the 2018 incident Gregg addressed, speculation runs rife.

Since 2005, Gregg Wallace has been at the helm of MasterChef alongside John Torode and has appeared on spin-offs including Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals. His TV accolades extend to shows like Eat Well for Less?, Inside the Factory, and Time Commanders.