MasterChef‘s Gregg Wallace has on Monday denied he made sexual comments to a female BBC staffer in 2018, saying: “I didn’t say anything sexual.”
The TV star also said in his message on Instagram: “I have always been true to my wife Anna.” Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini were married in 2016 but they have been together for 12 years and they share a four-year-old son Sid.
Over the weekend, The Sun reported that in 2018 the MasterChef star was investigated for allegedly taking his top off and bragging about his sex life to a female BBC employee while working on the game show Impossible Celebrities.
A BBC spokesperson told Yahoo: “Whilst we do not comment on individuals, if issues are raised they are dealt with swiftly and appropriately at the time. We do not tolerate any form of inappropriate behaviour and have robust processes in place.”
Gregg Wallace’s deleted video
After the allegations hit headlines, Wallace addressed it with a piece to camera on his Instagram stories on Monday. The brief video speaking about the newspaper headlines has since been deleted from his social media account which has a following of 195,000.
He said: “Good morning. With reference to what’s in the newspapers these allegations were investigated by the BBC six years ago. The allegations were investigated by the BBC six years ago, and my comments were found to be not sexual. I repeat not sexual. Thank you.”
As well as addressing the allegations, Wallace said he loved his wife Anne-Marie Sterpini.
He added: “Something else that I feel very strongly about, strong enough to be on here, nobody six years ago or since has accused me of flirting with anyone or hitting on anyone, and that is important to me, and I say this for my wife Anna, who I have been true to and madly in love with since the day I met her.
“I don’t want anyone to misunderstand this and make it look like I was flirting with somebody. Nobody accused me of that and I never have.”
Gregg Wallace speaks out
After deleting the first video, Wallace has since shared a new clip also filmed as a piece to camera in which he addressed the 2018 BBC investigation. The video again was posted to his Instagram account to his following. “The story that is hitting the newspapers,” he said.
“This was investigated promptly when it happened, six years ago by the BBC. And the outcome of that was that I hadn’t said anything sexual. I’ll need to repeat this again. I didn’t say anything sexual. Thank you for your time.”
Wallace said he has always been true to his wife.
He added: “Despite what the newspapers are suggesting, nobody six years ago accused me of flirting with anybody or hitting on anybody. And the reason I say this is because of my wife Anna.
“I have always been true to my wife Anna and have never flirted or hit on anybody in the 12 years that I met her and fell in love with her. And it’s important that so people don’t misunderstand that. That I am true to my wife.”