Gregg Wallace said complaints about his alleged behaviour came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age” in a video posted to his Instagram story on Sunday, 1 December.
The Masterchef presenter was responding to allegations of inappropriate sexual comments from 13 people across a range of shows over a 17-year period.
Wallace will step away from the BBC cooking show while historical misconduct complaints are externally reviewed by MasterChef producers Banijay UK.
Wallace’s lawyers say “It is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
A BBC spokesperson said “any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated”.
“In the newspaper, 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,” Wallace told his followers.
