Gregg Wallace will step away from presenting MasterChef while complaints made to the BBC from individuals about historical allegations of misconduct are investigated, the show’s production company said.
The 60-year-old, who has been a co-presenter and judge of the popular cooking show since 2005, is “committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”, a statement from the show’s production company, Banijay UK, said.
Last month, Wallace responded to reports that a BBC review had found he could continue working at the corporation following reports of an alleged incident in 2018 when he appeared on Impossible Celebrities.
Wallace said the claims had been investigated “promptly” at the time and he did not say “anything sexual” while appearing on the game show more than half a decade ago.
In an Instagram post following an article in The Sun newspaper, he wrote: “The story that’s hitting the newspapers 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.”
Alongside MasterChef, Wallace presented Inside The Factory for BBC Two from 2015.
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He stepped away in 2023 and said he wanted to focus on taking care of his autistic and non-verbal son, Sid, who he shares with his wife, 39-year-old caterer Anne-Marie Sterpini.
The couple married in 2016 in Haver Castle in Kent with MasterChef co-presenter John Torode as best man, after meeting three years earlier on Twitter when she asked him his opinion on pairing duck with rhubarb.
Wallace has featured on various BBC shows over the years, including Saturday Kitchen, Eat Well For Less, Supermarket Secrets, Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals, as well as being a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in 2014.
He was made an MBE for services to food and charity last year.
Recorded episodes of MasterChef: The Professionals featuring Wallace will be transmitted as planned, the PA news agency understands.
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