Allegations against MasterChef star Gregg Wallace are “snowballing” as three new women come forward with groping claims, showbiz journalist Ellen Coughlan has warned.
Speaking to GB News, Coughlan explained: “That’s always the way with these cases, right? You hear the starting of something and then it begins to snowball. And that’s kind of what we’re seeing here now.”
The latest developments follow initial accusations from 13 women who reported sexual comments and misconduct over a 17-year period.
“Three new women now have come forward and they are saying that he has groped them, so a little step up from sexual comments,” Coughlan said.
She added: “This appears to be more than just jokes. Initially, it did seem like sexual comments, that word was thrown around. Now the word groping is being thrown around, so it’s clear that there’s more to it.”
Former MasterChef winner Emma Kennedy claims she witnessed Wallace grope a camera operator during a 2012 photoshoot, stating she reported the incident at the time.
A former contestant, who wished to remain anonymous, alleged Wallace groped her while she was cooking on set, pressing into her from behind.
Another woman reported meeting Wallace at the Ideal Home Show in London, alleging he squeezed her backside at a pub and made lewd comments about being aroused.
The allegations against Wallace began when 13 women reported inappropriate behaviour spanning 17 years across five TV shows, from 2005 to 2022.
Wallace’s lawyers have insisted the accusations are “entirely false”, and the presenter has stepped away from the BBC cooking show while investigations take place.
Warning of the dangers of such behaviours becoming “worse over time” if they are not dealt with, Coughlan explained: “You can’t get away with things like that anymore in a professional setting.
“You have to remain professional, and you can have your sexual jokes among your buddy system in the pub, but it’s not banter for work.
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“It becomes a culture as well. In a workplace, if people are so used to this behaviour for so many years, they’ll throw a blind eye to it because they’ll just say, oh, that’s Gregg. And that appears to what has happened here.
“But that behaviour only gets worse, it escalates over time. The more you get away with it, the more he’s going to push the boundaries. So, watch this space. I feel like there’s going to be a lot more come to this.”
GB News host Anne Diamond highlighted the continuous nature of the alleged harassment, discussing Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark’s experience.
“Kirsty Wark said when she was on it, it was continuous, it wouldn’t stop,” Diamond said.
“It was sexually sort of harassing, and this went on in the studio, outside in the corridor, outside the dressing rooms.
“He is alleged to have been dancing naked with just a sock over his nether regions. So if it’s continuous and it goes on and on, it becomes very frightening.”
In a statement, Wallace’s lawyers said: “The suggestion that Wallace, who’s presented the popular BBC one cooking show alongside John Torode since 2005, engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature was entirely false.”
