Ulrika Jonsson has been left "seething" after MasterChef host Gregg Wallace doubled down on his "crude and sleazy" remarks to women over the years.
The 60-year-old has been accused of inappropriate behaviour over a 17-year period, with the MasterChef presenter stepping away from the show amid an internal investigation in the BBC. Despite strongly denying the allegations in an official statement issued by his legal reps, Wallace decided to take to Instagram in an apparent attempt to clear his name.
However, his video rant, in which he says his accusers are "middle class women of a certain age", has backfired, with Wallace now facing fresh controversy for trying to explain away the situation with yet more sexism. Taking to Instagram, he ranted: "Now I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years.
"Amateur, Celebrity and Professional MasterChef. In that time I’ve worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds and all different walks of life. Now I’m reading in the paper that there have been 13 complaints in that time.
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WireImage)"I can see them coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right. Over 20 years of TV, can you imagine how many women on MasterChef have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo?”
Ulrika Jonsson, who has previously slammed Wallace for making a vile rape joke to a "distressed" MasterChef contestant, has commented again, admitting she is "seething". The Swedish-born former model fumed to The Sun: "Somewhere in his misogynistic, thoughtless, ancient mind he felt it appropriate to tell the world this. Oh, Gregg. Your ignorance and arrogance knows no bounds. Firstly, you have no clue what ‘class’ of women it is that have made complaints about you."
She added that his reference to "women of a certain age" is ironic because Generation X have been subjected to "sexist, misogynistic, crude and sleazy comments and physical contact" from a young age, throughout their "working lives".
Ulrika also told The Telegraph about how she felt when she saw the video, explaining: "My first reaction was just, ‘Keep digging, Gregg. Keep digging' because this shows the arrogance of a man who has zero introspection or self-awareness." She added that the former presenter lacks the ability to 'read the room'.
Ulrika, who claimed he told a "really distressed" contestant that her "dish looks like a rapist during foreplay", added that the BBC need to take accountability. She said: "However much the BBC considered this 'cheeky chappy' to be popular with the public because of his simplicity, it is just not good enough to brush off any complaints with the excuse that ‘it’s just how Gregg is’."
Other celebrities to have spoken out about Gregg include Kirstie Allsop, former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, Sir Rod Stewart and Geordie Shore's Charlotte Crosby. Wallace's lawyers have said "it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature." The BBC also released a statement saying: "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. It would be inappropriate for us to comment on anything that could form part of Banijay's ongoing investigation or otherwise influence it."
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