Gregg Wallace

Gregg Allan Wallace (born 17 October 1964) is an English broadcaster, entrepreneur and writer. He is known for co-presenting ''MasterChef'', '' Celebrity MasterChef'' and '' MasterChef: The Professionals'' on BBC One and BBC Two. He has written for ''Good Food'', ''Now'' and ''Olive''.

Wallace left ''MasterChef'' after allegations of sexual harassment surfaced in 2024. Wallace's lawyers said it is entirely false that he had engaged in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. In April 2025 Wallace said he felt "under attack" due to the allegations about him and that he had contemplated suicide.

Early life and business career

Gregg Allan Wallace was born on 17 October 1964 in Peckham, South London. At the age of eight, he was sexually assaulted by a babysitter's husband, but did not tell anybody at the time. He left school at 15 and started work as a warehouseman at Covent Garden Fruit and Veg Market. He sold vegetables at a stand in Covent Garden, before becoming a salesman. He was later told that setting up a business might be a good idea. In 1989, he started George Allan's Greengrocers, a company that grew to a turnover of £7.5 million.

In 2010, Wallace opened the restaurant Wallace & Co in the London district of Putney, where he served as one of the directors. In 2012, he opened Gregg's Bar & Grill in a joint venture with the Bermondsey Square Hotel. In August 2013, it was reported that one of Wallace's companies, West Veg Limited, had folded, owing more than £500,000. In 2014, both of his restaurants folded, with Wallace & Co owing suppliers £150,000.

Broadcasting career

Wallace was invited to co-present ''Veg Talk'' on BBC Radio 4 with Charlie Hicks. The programme aired for seven years; Andy Kershaw described it as being "delivered with this fake, barrow-boy bonhomie."

Wallace was the original presenter of ''Saturday Kitchen'' from 2002 until being replaced by Antony Worrall Thompson in 2003. Wallace also presented ''Veg Out'' for the Discovery Channel, and ''Follow That Tomato'' for The Food Channel, resulting in a Royal Television Society award for Best Lifestyle Programme in 2003.

In 2008 and 2009, Wallace presented two editions of ''The Money Programme'' on the effect that the 2008 financial crisis was having on the public's attitudes towards food. In August 2013, Wallace presented ''Supermarket Secrets'', a BBC One programme about supermarket food sourcing and distribution, and in September 2013, he co-presented ''Harvest 2013'', a three-part documentary following the progress of Britain's vegetable, cereal and fruit harvests.

In 2013, Wallace started to co-present ''Eat Well for Less?'' alongside Chris Bavin for BBC One, and from 2015 until 2023 he co-presented ''Inside the Factory,'' alongside Cherry Healey and Ruth Goodman for BBC Two. In 2016, Wallace was the presenter of a revived series of the BBC historical game show '' Time Commanders''.

In December 2019, Wallace presented a Channel 5 documentary called ''Gregg Wallace's Magical Christmas Market'', filmed in Vienna, Austria. In April 2020, Channel 5 scheduled a follow-up series called ''Gregg Wallace's Fun Weekends'', but it was pulled because it featured cities badly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The four-part travel series was finally transmitted in February 2021 as ''Big Weekends with Gregg Wallace'' (also known as ''Gregg Wallace: Big Weekends Away'') with the first episode being about Barcelona.

In February 2021, Wallace presented a six-part ITV series called ''South Africa with Gregg Wallace''. In the series, he visited sites such as Isandlwana, the Augrabies Falls, Durban and the Orange River. In this month it was reported that Kimberley Walsh was likely to replace Wallace as presenter of ''Eat Well For Less'', after Wallace left the show after eight years.

In December 2021, Wallace presented two Channel 5 Christmas specials: ''Gregg Wallace's Grand Christmas Adventure'' and ''Gregg Wallace's Magical Christmas Market''. In July 2023, Wallace presented '' Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat'', a mockumentary which depicted a British company that had developed food technology to produce genetically engineered human meat.

''MasterChef''

Between 2005 and 2024, Wallace was co-presenter and judge of BBC cooking show ''MasterChef,'' with John Torode. In December 2024 Wallace was replaced by the food critic Grace Dent. In March 2018, Wallace declined to judge Zaleha Kadir Olpin's dish on ''MasterChef'', stating that the stewed chicken rendang dish was "not crispy enough and could not be eaten". This remark was criticised by some social media users in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, who said on Twitter that rendang is a "stewed, soft and tender dish: not intended to be crispy".

Guest appearances

In 2007, Wallace appeared in the BBC singing contest '' Just the Two of Us'' where he partnered with professional singer Carol Decker. The duo were the first to be eliminated. In 2010, Wallace appeared in the BBC One series ''Turn Back Time: The High Street'' with Tom Herbert and Juliet Gardiner. On 27 January 2012, Wallace appeared in an episode of ''Room 101'' on BBC One. In August 2012, Wallace was the subject of an episode of the BBC genealogy show '' Who Do You Think You Are?''

Wallace appeared as a guest panellist on the BBC Two programme '' An Extra Slice'' In 2014, a contestant in Series 7 of the ITV quiz show '' The Chase Celebrity Special'' in 2017, a contestant on '' Celebrity Catchphrase'' in 2019, a contestant on the sixth series of Tipping Point: Lucky Stars in 2020, a contestant on the third series of ''The Chase'' spin off, ''Beat the Chasers'' in 2021, and a celebrity expert on the 2021 Christmas special of '' The Wheel''.

In September 2014 Wallace was a contestant on the twelfth series of BBC's ''Strictly Come Dancing'', partnered with professional Aliona Vilani. In the first week Wallace danced a Cha-cha-cha to Katy Perry's "Hot n Cold". During the judges' comments, Wallace joked about the lack of success shown by Craig Revel Horwood in a previous series of '' Celebrity Masterchef''. He left the show in the second week, after the first public vote, when the Waltz danced by Jennifer Gibney and Tristan MacManus was preferred by the judges to Vilani and Wallace's Charleston.

Allegations of misconduct

In November 2024, it was reported that Wallace was to step away from ''MasterChef'' while allegations of historical misconduct were investigated. This came after the BBC reported to Wallace's representatives that there were allegations of inappropriate sexual comments from 13 individuals. Wallace's lawyers said it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. Wallace was subsequently dropped by the charity Ambitious about Autism which had appointed him as an ambassador in honour of his autistic son. In April 2025 Wallace said he had been diagnosed with autism, stating he was "very slow to wake up" to a changing work environment. He said: "I honestly never meant to upset anyone. I didn't realise I was causing any problems."

In August 2021, the television and radio presenter Melanie Sykes had been a competitor on the programme, but Sykes later said that a comment from Wallace had led her to end her career in the entertainment industry.

In December 2024, in response to the accusations against him, Wallace posted a video to Instagram saying there had been "13 complaints" from "over 4,000 contestants" he had worked with in 20 years on the BBC show ''MasterChef.'' On 2 December 2024, Wallace apologised for suggesting that allegations against him came from "a handful of middle-class women of a certain age". On 3 December, the BBC announced that two forthcoming ''MasterChef'' special episodes and three repeats of an old series of ''Inside the Factory'', had been pulled from the Christmas schedule while the allegations against Wallace were still being investigated. Wallace later said that he had received "a tidal wave of abuse" on social media after posting the video on Instagram.

On 4 December 2024, allegations of sexual harassment were made by the ghostwriter of Wallace's autobiography, ''Life On A Plate''. The former head of BBC News, Roger Mosey, stated that the allegations against Wallace were a "blow to the BBC" which has had a long-standing problem with misbehaviour by some of its presenters.

In January 2025 veteran singer Sir Rod Stewart criticised Wallace on social media for humiliating his wife Penny Lancaster on the ''MasterChef'' programme. Wallace said in April 2025 there had been a "falling out" between himself and Lancaster over "whether an orchid should stay on a bowl of soup or not". He said the criticism was a "shame" as he liked Stewart.

It was reported that former ''Newsnight'' presenter Kirsty Wark was among the 13 people who had accused Wallace of making inappropriate sexual comments on the show. Wallace said he was unaware he had offended Wark until the complaint became known in 2024, stating: "I thought we got on." In April 2025 Wallace said he felt "under attack" due to the allegations about him and that he had contemplated suicide. He said he had never groped any workers, describing claims of groping as "absolutely not true".

Personal life

Wallace married his first wife, Christine, in 1991 but their marriage only lasted six weeks. He has two children with his second wife, former pastry chef Denise Lovell, whom he was married to between 1999 and 2004. Wallace later married biology teacher Heidi Brown, in 2010, his third wife who was 17 years his junior, after meeting her on Twitter. The relationship ended after 15 months.

Wallace met Anne-Marie Sterpini, 21 years his junior, also on Twitter, in 2013 and they married in August 2016. ''Masterchef'' co-host John Torode served as best man at the wedding at Hever Castle, Kent. Sterpini gave birth to their first child in 2019. Wallace publicly expressed his fears of being an "old parent" but said that he was considering having more children. Wallace's son was diagnosed with autism in 2022. In February 2024, Wallace told the ''Telegraph'' that having another child "isn't something that I would have chosen at my age", but did so to please his wife.

Wallace was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to food and charity. Wallace has a tattoo of Millwall on his chest. He has supported the club since childhood and took part in football hooliganism in his youth. At one time Wallace was a rugby coach for an under-15's side in Liverpool.

Bibliography

* ''Veg: The Greengrocer's Cookbook''. Mitchell Beazley. 2006.
* ''A Cook's Year: How to Choose and Cook with Great Ingredients''. Mitchell Beazley. 2008.
* ''Veg: The Cookbook''. Octopus Publishing Group. 2009.
* ''Gregg's Favourite Puddings''. Octopus Publishing Group. 2010.
* ''Great British Food Revival: The Revolution Continues: 16 Celebrated Chefs Create Mouth-watering Recipes with the UK's Finest Ingredients''. Orion Publishing Group. 2011.
* ''Life on a Plate: The Autobiography''. Orion Publishing Group. 2012.
* ''Gregg's Italian Family Cookbook''. Octopus Books. 2019.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Gregg
1964 births
Living people
BBC controversies
BBC television presenters
Businesspeople from the London Borough of Southwark
English television presenters
Members of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at the London Nautical School
People from Peckham
Smithsonian Channel
Television personalities from the London Borough of Southwark
Writers from the London Borough of Southwark
Sexual harassment in the United Kingdom
Television controversies in the United Kingdom