Gregg Wallace slams ‘middle-class women of a certain age’ after accusations made against him

Gregg Wallace has shared a new statement on social media, claiming the allegations made against him are from 'middle class women of a certain age'.

The 60-year-old MasterChef judge is facing allegations of inappropriate sexual comments over a period of 17 years, after first becoming a judge on MasterChef back in 2005.

It's reported that 13 people, including former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, have accused Wallace of making 'inappropriate sexual comments'.

Wark alleges that, on two occasions, Wallace told jokes of a 'sexualised nature' when she was a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011.

The Sun reported that three different women have come forward with claims about Wallace's alleged behaviour.

One former contestant, who did not want to be named, alleged that he groped her on set as the cameras rolled.

Wallace has now stepped down from the BBC cooking show while the investigation takes place.

A statement by MasterChef’s production company, Banijay UK, 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 under way, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully co-operating throughout the process."

Wallace's lawyers have said that 'it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature'.

Wallace said the allegations were from 'middle class women of a certain age' (Instagram/@greggawallace)

On Sunday morning (1 December), Wallace posted a video on Instagram where he addressed the allegations.

He 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.

"In the newspapers, 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 a second video, he added: “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?

"Look, this is important, it's important to me. In 20 years of television, amateur MasterChef, professional, celebrity and Eat Well for Less, and Inside the Factory, of all of the staff members that I've worked with over those 20 years, do you know how many complaints we've had about me in that time from all the staff we've worked with? Absolutely zero."

Wallace has addressed the reports online (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Of the allegations made against Wallace, a BBC spokesperson also 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."