BBC Has 'No Plans To Work' With MasterChef Host Gregg Wallace After Sexual Misconduct Report

The BBC, on Monday (July 14), confirmed that it has cut ties with MasterChef host Gregg Wallace after a report upheld 45 misconduct allegations against the presenter, reported AP.

As per the report, led by a law firm, 83 allegations were made against Wallace during his time on the cooking reality show: between 2005 and 2018, and several claims of 'inappropriate sexual language and humour' were substantiated.

The BBC faced pressure on how it handles sexual misconduct allegations and how Wallace had continued to work in some of its most popular shows despite the allegations against him.

The broadcaster has now said that it will no longer work with Wallace.

BBC has issued a statement of apology, saying that Wallace's "return to MasterChef is untenable."

"The BBC has informed Mr Wallace we have no plans to work with him in future," the statement read.

"Although the full extent of these issues were not known at the relevant time, opportunities were missed to address this behaviour, both by the production companies running MasterChef and the BBC," it stated further.

The broadcaster earlier said that Wallace was given a warning by his employers after a complaint was filed in 2018. Back then, an internal investigation found his behaviour was "unacceptable and unprofessional."

Wallace has strongly refuted the claims. In December, he received criticism after he claimed that the complaints about his behaviour came from "a handful of middle-class women of a certain age."

Wallace, 60, shared a post on his Instagram handle last week, where he wrote, "I will not go quietly. I will not be cancelled for convenience. I was tried by media and hung out to dry well before the facts were established."

For the unversed, the report was conducted by MasterChef’s production company Banijay, alongside law firm Lewis Silkin. Ahead of the report's release, Wallace insisted it had cleared him of "the most serious and sensational allegations".