Celebrity MasterChef 2012 champion Emma Kennedy has claimed Gregg Wallace thought a comment he made about a woman’s bottom “was funny”.
The 57-year-old actor and author told Times Radio the former greengrocer “just doesn’t understand that some behaviour is completely inappropriate”.
In the incident, Kennedy claims Wallace “put his hands over” a photographer’s assistant’s bottom and said “cor”.
Speaking about the aftermath of the incident, she said: “It was like a combination of things, I think initially I was just agog that he felt comfortable enough to do that to a woman in front of another woman.
“But I think, and I am going to make this distinction, I don’t think he did it as an act of sexual aggression. I think he did it because he thought it was funny.
“And I can only speak about my experience with Gregg and although I saw quite a lot of inappropriate behaviour, I never sort of felt, ok, you’re a sexual predator. I never thought he was evil.
“But what I did think was that he just doesn’t understand that some behaviour is completely inappropriate. And I said to him at the time, ‘you can’t do that stuff, Gregg’.
“And it sort of went in one ear and out the other, I think.”
She claimed she told a number of people at MasterChef, including a producer, about the incident but said she had “no idea” what happened next.
After winning the show, Kennedy returned to Celebrity MasterChef as a guest judge on three occasions in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Explaining the incident, she added: “I went into the studio and it was me and Greg, and the photographer’s assistant, and the photographer’s assistant was a young woman, very attractive young woman, and she was bending over dealing with some equipment.
“And as she was bending over, Gregg in front of me went and put his hands over her buttocks and then turned to me and went ‘cor’ and then was laughing as if this was a great joke.”
The 60-year-old faces a number of allegations of making “inappropriate sexual jokes”, asking for the phone numbers of female members of production staff, and undressing in front of and standing “too close” to women working on his shows.
It comes after it was announced Wallace is to step away from the BBC cooking show while historical misconduct complaints are externally reviewed by MasterChef producer Banijay UK.
He also faces allegations of inappropriate sexual comments from 13 people across a range of shows over a 17-year period, as reported by BBC News, which said it sent a letter to the TV star’s representatives earlier this week.
Wallace’s lawyers say “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
A statement from Banijay UK read: “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.
“Banijay UK’s duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set.
“Whilst these are historical allegations, incidences brought to our attention where these expectations are not met are thoroughly investigated and addressed appropriately.”
It comes after the production company confirmed on Saturday it had appointed law firm Lewis Silkin to lead an investigation into Wallace’s alleged behaviour.
The presenter’s representatives have been contacted for comment.
