The BBC has informed Gregg Wallace that it could possibly now not work with the previous MasterChef presenter as a result of his conduct is a risk to the protection of others.
In a letter of dismissal, Claire Powell, head of compliance for BBC content material, informed Wallace that the UK nationwide broadcaster doesn’t “have the boldness you can change what appears to be discovered behaviour.”
The letter was cited in The Day by day Telegraph and Day by day Mirror. Deadline has verified its contents with a supply near Wallace.
The BBC wrote to Wallace forward of the publication of an unbiased evaluation into his conduct on MasterChef throughout his 20 years internet hosting the sequence. Banijay UK, the producer behind MasterChef, engaged Lewis Silkin to conduct the investigation final November following claims Wallace made lewd and inappropriate remarks on set.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Wallace acknowledged that he had used “inappropriate language” between 2005 and 2018, however argued that extra severe allegations — together with groping and touching girls — had been thrown out by Lewis Silkin. An govt abstract of the evaluation is predicted on Monday.
Wallace has claimed that his conduct might be attributed to his current autism prognosis, lambasting MasterChef colleagues for “failing to guard me from what I now realise was a harmful setting.”
The 60-year-old presenter believes he has been the sufferer of incapacity discrimination and has engaged Dan Morrison, a accomplice at Grosvenor Legislation, to battle his nook. Lawrence Energy, a barrister at Whitestone Chambers, can be mentioned to be performing for Wallace.
Within the BBC letter, Powell informed Wallace that the company had weighed up a wide range of components in reaching its choice, together with earlier warnings and the impression on the “BBC’s popularity.” The Telegraph reported that, in parallel with the Lewis Silkin evaluation, the BBC additionally examined Wallace’s conduct on different exhibits, figuring out six incidents of concern relationship again to 2005.
Powell’s letter continued: “I’ve additional taken into consideration the 2025 findings as they relate to your well being and up to date autism prognosis (as you’ve gotten publicly acknowledged). I’ve famous that you don’t contemplate sure environments to now be ‘protected’ for you.
“Along with the responsibility of care in the direction of you, the BBC equally to bear in mind the protection and responsibility of care owed in the direction of contributors, members of the general public and colleagues on manufacturing groups that you could be have interaction with and the suitable use of licence charge payers’ cash in establishing a protected working setting for all.
“The 2025 findings replicate that you just acknowledge a few of your feedback have offended or upset folks, however it’s clear that you just battle to differentiate the boundaries between acceptable and inappropriate behaviour within the office, in addition to missing consciousness of why your behaviour impacts others.
“I wouldn’t have confidence that your behaviour can change to make sure there’s a sufficiently protected and respectful setting for others working with you within the varieties of programmes the BBC has engaged you to current. Such productions should not closely scripted programmes and contain sound and constant ranges of judgment in relation to interactions with others which can not always be monitored or supervised.”
A BBC spokeswoman mentioned: “Banijay UK instructed the regulation agency Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations towards Gregg Wallace. We’re not going to remark till the investigation is full and the findings are revealed.”
