Rise and fall of greengrocer turned MasterChef star

Katie Rosseinsky on how Gregg Wallace's reputation soured

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In the space of just a year, Gregg Wallace's public perception has metamorphosed entirely. Descriptions of the TV presenter would historically be seasoned with epithets like “cheeky chappy” and “salt of the earth” (Wallace, meanwhile, described himself as “the fat, bald bloke off the telly who likes pudding”). Now, though, the MasterChef star's image has irrevocably soured.

In November, Wallace made headlines after he was accused of a string of workplace misconduct allegations, going back almost two decades. Last week, BBC News reported that a further 50 people had approached the corporation with new claims (Wallace denied all the allegations). And yesterday, an independent report upheld 45 out of 83 allegations against him, including claims of unwelcome physical contact and inappropriate sexual language. In response, the BBC admitted that “opportunities were missed to address this behaviour - both by the production companies running MasterChef” and the broadcaster itself.

It is a spectacular fall from grace for a man who was once one of British television’s most ubiquitous stars, hired as the face of shows spanning food, travel and history - but the report doesn’t mark the end of the BBC’s Wallace problem. An entire season of MasterChef is in the can, recorded last summer before the allegations emerged, but bosses now face the unenviable task of trying to decide whether or not to air it.

Wallace’s childhood was a tumultuous and painful one. Born in Peckham in 1964, he was sexually abused by the husband of a babysitter at the age of eight. “It was quite a horrendous situation for a young boy,” he told the