Should MasterChef be taken off air as Gregg Wallace complaints investigated? Take our poll

A Labour MP has urged BBC bosses to pause MasterChef while an investigation into Gregg Wallace’s alleged misconduct takes place

Do you think the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals should be taken off air tonight amid the Gregg Wallace investigation?

BBC bosses are facing pressure to 'pause' the popular show while an investigation into the TV presenter's conduct plays out. Rupa Huq, a Labour MP on the Commons Culture Committee, suggested that airing the programme could be 'triggering' for some women who have made serious allegations against him. She argued that pulling the episode would send a strong message and show that the BBC is taking the situation seriously.

Sixty-year-old Gregg has been accused by 13 people of making inappropriate sexual remarks and jokes over a span of 17 years. While he has strongly denied these claims, stating through his legal reps that they’re untrue, the MasterChef presenter has stepped away from the show while the allegations are being reviewed externally by the show's producer Banijay UK.

If you can't see the poll, click here

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, Rupa Huq said: "I know you're saying [Gregg's] stopped presenting, but to the casual viewer there's not going to be any difference if it's on TV tonight, it looks like sort of he got away with it.

"I think the BBC should send a strong signal. We need to let the investigation do its work - but at the same time if he's been dangled on our screens when all this is going on, I just think at the moment maybe pause it."

In a post on Instagram on Sunday, Mr Wallace said: "I've been doing MasterChef for 20 years, amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef, and I think, in that time, I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life.

"Apparently now, I'm reading in the paper, there's been 13 complaints in that time. 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. In 20 years, over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks, or sexual innuendo? Can you imagine?"

Wallace has been co-presenter of MasterChef with John Torode since 2005. He has also taken part in the show's spin-off programmes including Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals.

What do you think? Should the current MasterChef series be scrapped? Take our poll above