Former Celebrity MasterChef contestant Aggie Mackenzie has come out swinging against Gregg Wallace. She revealed to Susanna Reid and Ed Balls on Good Morning Britain that she "can't listen" to his voice any longer after experiencing what she describes as his "worst crime".
Taking the hot seat with Susanna and Ed, Aggie weighed in on their Monday morning natter about incidents from her stint on the 2011 series of the celebrity cook-off. Susanna kicked things off by saying, "So morning to both of you. So Aggie, back in 2011 you were on MasterChef, the same year and series as Kirsty Wark."
She delved into fellow celeb Kirsty Wark's recent claims, recounting, "She said that there had been sexualised jokes she alleged during the filming of that show. Said the comments were really, really in the wrong place and made people uncomfortable. Did you witness the same stuff?" Aggie was quick to agree, nodding as she confirmed: "Yes, I agree with everything Kirsty says. Those jokes weren't actually directed at me, but the jokes were always smutty, they were endless."
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The statement continued as Aggie shared her viewpoint on Wallace: "It was as if Gregg was some sort of dinosaur. He just can't read the room and seemed to be allowed to carry on in this way, and I actually can't listen to his voice, and it just kind of triggers something in me. It's horrible."
The conversation took another turn when Susanna brought up Gregg's remarks, asking Aggie, "Do you consider yourself... I mean, one of those people that Gregg is now taking aim at, a woman of a certain age? " Displaying no quivers, Aggie pointed out, "Oh, again, this illustrates how he just has no insight or understanding of how he behaves. He just doesn't get it. He's been allowed to carry on in his own sweet way for many, many years."
"He could have remedied his behaviour, but I don't think he was actually capable of doing that," she said. Ed chimed in: "He's partly saying it's your problem and all these middle-aged women and 10 years ago, it was okay to tell the kind of jokes.", reports the Mirror.
She retorted: "No, not funny at all. I think, as far as I could see, his worst crime was being really, really boring, and having to listen to all this stuff, this nonsense."
She continued: "He didn't know how to hold a conversation, and so he had to fill up the space with nonsense. I don't think he knew how to talk to anybody actually."
The allegations against Gregg include him "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."
The statement announcing the investigation read: "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."
Banijay UK has emphasised their commitment to staff welfare, stating: "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."
The BBC also responded to the situation, with a spokesperson asserting: "We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them. We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated. Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them."
Over the weekend, Gregg broke his silence on the complaints. However viewers have slammed him for the language he used in his video rant. Gregg addressed the controversy himself in a video statement to his social media followers, saying: "I think in that time I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life, and apparently now, I'm reading in the paper, there's been 13 complaints in that time."
"Now, in the newspaper, 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."
He went on to say in another snippet: "Look, this is important to me. 20 years ... do you know how many staff, all different sorts of staff, do you know how many staff complained about me in that time? Absolutely none. Zero. Seriously."
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