MasterChef producer warned BBC about Gregg Wallace but ‘nothing was done’

A producer who worked with Gregg Wallace has alleged that he undressed in front of colleagues and “made inappropriate sexual jokes” in full view of crew members and show guests.

Georgia Harding, who worked on MasterChef between 2014 and 2015 and later on Eat Well for Less, says she witnessed his alleged behaviour first-hand.

Ms Harding says she alerted the BBC about the way Wallace treated contributors, but claimed there “appeared to be an acceptance of his behaviour” and that “nothing was done”.

“It was like ‘oh, that’s Gregg’,” she said. Her complaints included Wallace appearing “too close” to some MasterChef contestants and his reportedly constant discussions about sex.

She also alleged he “would get changed on set, even though he had a changing room”.

“He would show off his ‘muscles’ from having a personal trainer, it made us feel uncomfortable,” she told The Telegraph.

Her claims come as The Times reported a BBC executive had tried to intervene when made aware of issue with Wallace.

Kate Phillips, who now oversees unscripted programmes for the BBC, warned in 2017 that his behaviour on set was “unacceptable and cannot continue”.

In internal emails, she said she would ensure she was alerted immediately if further allegations were made against Wallace.

Her assurance seven years ago came after broadcaster Aasmah Mir complained that Wallace made innapproprite comments during filming when she who appeared on the 12th series of Celebrity MasterChef.

Mir stated in an email forwarded to Phillips in November 2017: “Should anything happen in the future, I don’t want to feel guilty when people say ‘why wasn’t anything said before?’, or for producers or editors to claim they didn’t know.”

The latest allegations appear to show that BBC bosses were aware of complaints about Wallace’s impropriety but failed to stop it.

On Thursday, it was announced that Wallace will step away from presenting the BBC cookery show while the historical complaints made about him are investigated.

To date, allegations have been made by 13 people, spanning a 17-year period.

One of his accusers is former Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark, who said he told “sexualised” jokes during filming when she appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011.

The show’s production company Banijay UK issued a statement which said Wallace “is committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”.