MasterChef star Gregg Wallace faces fresh sex claims from women who claim he touched them

Gregg Wallace is facing more allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour from women tonight.

The MasterChef host stepped down from the BBC show last week amid claims of his behaviour from 13 people over a 17 year period. Now, a woman has claimed Wallace touched her bottom at an event and another says he pressed his crotch against her while filming on a different show.

Wallace's lawyers had denied the presenter engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. Lisa, not her real name, worked on the BBC show Eat Well For Less in 2015 and told BBC News of an incident when, she says, he "touched [her] inappropriately" when they were filming in a supermarket.

"He brushed past me at the checkout, and touched my bum with his waist and penis and laughed and said "oooh you liked that didn't you"," she told the publication. Lisa said she felt like she had to "get on" with work after the alleged incident. She added: "When I finished the shoot, I felt it was slimy, disgusting. He just didn't need to touch my body, it made me uncomfortable."

Lisa claims she raised it to a senior colleague but alleges nothing was done. She now says she would have escalated it further but "when you're working your way up, your voice isn't heard". Lisa's best friend Jane, not her real name, spoke to the publication and claimed the alleged incident "really took a toll on her".

A woman who worked on MasterChef in 2015 has also shared an alleged incident with Wallace. Anna, not her real name, said she was called to Wallace's dressing room to fix his bow tie after a work event. She claims that as she was fastening his bow tie, Wallace's trousers were "partially lowered".

Anna claims: "His pubic hair was on show, where you can see the top part of his penis, and he was wearing no boxers underneath." Anna alleges she was not given an apology and claims Wallace stared at her before she quickly exited the room. She said she mentioned the alleged incident to colleagues in production immediately, who then escalated it.

Anna claims she was given the option to take it further by production company Shine, but decided not to. "I didn't want to be seen to be making a fuss, especially early in my career, whereas now, I have way more boundaries of what I will or won't do," she said. Anna alleges there was an agreement for her not to have to go to Wallace's dressing room but she still felt anxious at work.

Banijay, who own Shine and have launched an external investigation, told BBC News senior producers spoke to Anna about the alleged incident and that she said she did not feel "threatened" at any point. They claim the issue was also raised with the BBC.

Another allegation has been made by a woman who worked with Wallace at an event in 2022. Sarah, not her real name, claims that after the event she was asked to talk Wallace to the car park. She alleges the presenter put his arm around her and said: "Go on, hold my hand, don't you want to stand next to me."

Sarah said it was " totally out of the blue" and "totally unwanted". She also claims she was in a lift with Wallace when he allegedly pulled her and other members of his group into a hug. Sarah claims: "When doing this, he put his hand on my bottom and groped me. It made me feel gross, it was horrible." She said she has been unable to watch Wallace on TV since.

Last week, it was reported 13 people who had worked across five different programmes have claimed Wallace made inappropriate sexual comments. Wallace's lawyer has said: "It is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature". He apologised on Monday for claiming complaints about his behaviour came from "a handful of middle-class women of a certain age", adding he will now "take some time out".

The Mirror has contacted the BBC and Wallace's representative for comment.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Story Saved

You can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.