The willingness of 10 Downing Street to wade in to the sexual comments controversy surrounding television show Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace underlines the intensity of public scrutiny in Britain on the BBC about such matters, especially after the Huw Edwards scandal.
There is a big difference between the allegations against Wallace, accused of making inappropriate comments to staff and contestants, and the former BBC newsreader Edwards, a convicted sex offender who has pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.
What the separate scandals share, however, is the ability to drag under the microscope the actions of BBC as an institution, as well as actions of the two presenters. In the latest case involving Masterchef, what did BBC know and when, and why did it not take firm action sooner?
Wallace has been accused by at least 13 women of inappropriate behaviour on the cooking show franchise and has agreed to “step away” while BBC and producers conduct investigations. The allegations include making sexualised comments to women, talking luridly in front of female staff about his sex life, and undressing and changing in women’s view.
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[ Gregg Wallace: What are the allegations against the MasterChef presenter?Opens in new window ]
The issue has been catnip for the last week for elements of the British printed press who are forever enthusiastic about an opportunity to pile pressure on the state-funded broadcaster, the BBC. The high profile identities of some of Wallace’s complainants, however, has also given the story added fizz. His lawyers have denied any suggestions of sexual harassment.
The BBC has not named the women who gave statements, but among those to have complained about Wallace in public are television star Ulrika Jonsson, former Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark and Kirstie Allsop, a Channel 4 presenter who participated in Celebrity Masterchef.
Wallace chose at the weekend to effectively play the class card by dismissing the complainants against him, a man from working class stock, as coming from “middle class women of a certain age”.
It was a provocative intervention and Wallace backtracked on Monday and said sorry.
“I wasn’t in a good head space when I posted” the comments, he said.
They were sufficient to draw a response from prime minister Keir Starmer’s office, illustrating the sensitivity there is in Britain about the beloved “Beeb” and sex scandals. Number 10 said Wallace’s clumsy attempt at defence over the weekend was “inappropriate and misogynistic”.
It was also confirmed at a government briefing with Westminster journalists that culture secretary Lisa Nandy had already held talks with BBC executives over the Wallace allegations, as government nervousness about the issue grows.
Rupa Huq, a Labour MP, has even called on the BBC to suspend the latest series of Masterchef: The Professionals. She suggested it would be “massively triggering” for some women to put it on the air.
On Monday the BBC stood firm, however, and was due to broadcast the show that night while it also insisted the Masterchef Christmas special would go ahead as planned.
Scrutiny of the BBC is heightened by the fact that it has known about some of the allegations since at least 2017. It gave Wallace a warning in 2018 but allowed him to continue in his role.
Actress Emma Kennedy, however, has said she complained about him as far back as 2012. If true, it opens up a whole new seam of scrutiny about the BBC’s seemingly lax attitude towards oversight of certain stars.
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