Ulrika Jonsson has made a grave claim about Gregg Wallace after it was revealed he is stepping away from his MasterChef duties.
The TV chef, 60, has stepped back from presenting Masterchef after nearly 20 years amid allegations of historic misconduct. Several people have now come forward with claims about Wallace, including Jonsson - who was a contestant on the celebrity version of the show back in 2017.
Taking to her Instagram stories, the TV presenter and model, 57, claimed that Gregg, 60, made a 'rape joke' on Masterchef. The Swedish-British star claimed that she felt like she was being 'made a liar of' after Gregg's lawyers insisted that all the claims were 'entirely false'.
In another Instagram story, Jonsson claimed that several members of crew on Masterchef knew what was going on and had allegedly seen Gregg's inappropriate behaviour. She claimed: "Plenty of crew on set who would not dare to speak up for fear of losing their jobs."
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ulrikajonssonofficial/Instagram)Image:
@ulrikajonssonofficial/Instagram)Speaking to the Telegraph, Jonsson claimed that another female contestant had become "really distressed" after Wallace's alleged remarks. The star claimed that she saw the woman walking off set and asked her what had happened. "She then told us that Gregg Wallace had made a rape joke. She was really distressed about it.”
The contestant then retold the joke to Jonsson, before deciding to speak to a producer about the incident. “They then went off to speak to Gregg,” she said. “After a while he came up…and he apologised. He could hardly get his words out... He was apologising, and he had tears in his eyes."
Jonsson said that in her opinion Wallace should simply not have told the joke in the first place. The incident is said to have been handled by managers on set, who did not report it to bosses at production company Banijay.
It comes amid an investigation by the BBC into misconduct claims. Wallace, who was the host of the cooking show, has denied allegations of inappropriate sexual comments he is said to have made.
Former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark is among 13 people who have accused the MasterChef presenter of making inappropriate sexual comments, BBC News reported. Kirsty appeared on the BBC cooking show in 2011 and has claimed that Wallace told “jokes of a sexualised nature" on two occasions during filming. Speaking to BBC News , Kirsty said Wallace’s alleged remarks were "really, really in the wrong place".
Wallace, 60, is “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process” during the BBC's investigation process, a statement from the show’s production company Banijay UK to the PA news agency said.
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BBC/Shine TV)The statement 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’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."
It continued: "Whilst these are historical allegations, incidences brought to our attention where these expectations are not met, are thoroughly investigated and addressed appropriately."
The BBC has said it takes any issues that are raised with it “seriously” after it was announced Wallace will step away from his role on MasterChef while complaints made to the corporation from individuals about historical allegations of misconduct are investigated.
A BBC spokesperson said: “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.”
Wallace has been co-presenter of MasterChef with John Torode since 2005. Other shows he has been involved with include Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals, while he also featured on Eat Well for Less?, Inside the Factory and Time Commanders.
He has also been the presenter on a number of travel documentaries for Channel 5 and ITV.
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