A letter containing multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace was sent to the BBC in 2022, but did not prompt further investigation at the time, the Observer can reveal.
The letter described a “pattern of behaviour” by the MasterChef presenter that “clearly fails to meet the sexual harassment and bullying standards that prohibit unwelcome sexual advances and sexual innuendo”.
It was announced on Thursday that Wallace would be stepping back from his role on MasterChef while allegations of historical misconduct are investigated. An investigation by BBC News revealed that Wallace is facing allegations of inappropriate sexual comments from 13 people who worked with him over a 17-year period. Channel 5 is also looking into allegations of inappropriate behaviour by the presenter while making the programme Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends in 2019.
The 2022 letter, seen by the Observer, contained the experiences of several women, and detailed some of the allegations reported last week by the BBC, including complaints of sexualised comments and of Wallace appearing topless in front of colleagues.
It was sent to the BBC four years after Wallace had already been issued with a formal warning following an HR investigation into his behaviour.
It emerged last night that five years earlier, in 2017, Wallace was warned by a BBC executive that his conduct on set was “unacceptable and cannot continue”, after the broadcaster Aasmah Mir, who appeared on the 12th series of Celebrity MasterChef, complained about sexist comments Wallace had made during filming.
Kate Phillips, now in charge of the BBC’s unscripted programmes, told Mir she would “make sure that a system is in place and that I am informed straight away if something like this should ever occur again”.
Dawn Elrick, the director and producer who sent the 2022 letter on behalf of other women who had contacted her, said the BBC suggested each individual would have to make their own, direct complaint to the corporation.
“This is very tricky for freelancers to do without identifying themselves, which makes life extremely tricky in the freelance world,” she said. “Placing the onus on individual employees/freelancers means they failed to see that I was trying to tell them there was a pattern of alleged behaviour.”
Elrick, who submitted her letter with the support of industry union Bectu, had received the allegations against Wallace through her Instagram account, Shit Men in TV Have Said to Me, which has become a place for workers in the UK film and TV industry to share instances of workplace sexism and sexual harassment. She had received multiple submissions about Wallace and felt compelled to report this to the BBC.
Elrick said that, soon after sending the letter, she also submitted the allegations to the BBC via Navex Global, an external whistleblowing service. She said she had received no further contact with regards to that report.
Elrick said the BBC’s lack of action showed there is “no satisfactory means of reporting sexual harassment and bullying within the TV industry”.
A BBC spokesperson told the Observer: “If issues are raised with us we have robust processes in place to deal with them swiftly and appropriately. We will always listen if people want to make us aware of something directly.
“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on anything that could form part of Banijay’s [MasterChef’s production company] ongoing investigation or otherwise influence it.”
BBC News reported last week that the 2018 internal investigation looked into allegations of “sexual jokes” and other sexualised language that reportedly made colleagues “feel uncomfortable” and concluded that aspects of Wallace’s behaviour had been “unacceptable and unprofessional”.
The presenter Kirsty Wark told BBC News Wallace had told stories and jokes of a “sexualised nature” when she was a Celebrity MasterChef contestant in 2011. Rod Stewart claimed Wallace had “humiliated” his wife, Penny Lancaster, on the show in 2021.
In October, Wallace posted a denial of claims that he’d talked about his sex life and taken his top off in front of a colleague to his Instagram account, saying: “I didn’t say anything sexual.”
Wallace’s lawyers have said the suggestion that Wallace engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature was entirely false.
On Thursday, MasterChef’s production company, Banijay UK, said it had launched an investigation after the BBC made the company aware that it had received complaints and that Wallace is “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process”. The company said “it is appropriate to conduct an immediate external review to fully and impartially investigate” and that anyone with issues or concerns could contact speakup@banijayuk.com in confidence.
A BBC spokesperson said: “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.” The allegations against Wallace are the latest in a line of scandals involving talent at the BBC. Professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing faced allegations of bullying and harassment, while in August, football pundit and One Show presenter Jermaine Jenas was sacked after a female colleague raised concerns about his conduct.
The newsreader Huw Edwards, who was found guilty of making indecent images of children this year, was taken off air in 2023 after allegations that he paid a teenager for sexually explicit images. The Sunday Times reported that the BBC had warned Edwards about his online conduct two years previously. In October, the BBC announced a review of its workplace culture, focusing on “preventing abuse of power and ensuring everyone at the BBC conducts themselves in line with our values”.
Bectu Unscripted posted to its Instagram account on Friday: “We would urge anyone affected by the revelations to come forward in confidence … Bullying, harassment, unwanted sexual conduct or any behaviour that makes you feel uncomfortable is unacceptable.”
Elrick said the existence of Instagram accounts, WhatsApp groups and Reddit forums where TV workers could share their experiences with peers “are a symptom of sexism, classism and racism within the TV industry”.
“People are sick of bad behaviour and having to put up with things no one should have to put up with in the workplace because people have clout,” she said.
