Gregg Wallace responds with “A handful of comments from middle class women of a certain age”

[Conniebygaslight]

Just heard his comments on the news….unbelievable.

I watched Saturday Five on GBN last night. One male panelist said the racist comments were banter and free speech. A female panelist bemoaned that men can't say nothing these days without having their lives ruined. They questioned the further existence of the BBC for being too woke. Persecuting that most oppressed of demographics. While simultaneously criticising the BBC for being a hotbed of sexual predators.

The host, Darren Grimes, said little. Not surprising given his own behaviour at GB News.

Is it wrong of me to hope that GB not News will get him to front their first ever cookery show?

So if the people who ignored the complaints are women are they exempt from being called out enabling him?

People really need to stop looking at peoples identities instead of their actions.

Working with this guy when he was being inappropriate when you're loaded and can ditch the job speaks much louder than anyone's words.

I have no idea what their personal reasons were to come forward at this time, other than it being easier to speak up when someone else has.

@TooBigForMyBoots they'd have to get Mrs Wallace in for that. Not sure Greggles knows how to cook 🤔.

I wonder why those berating Kirstie Allsopp are not berating the male celebs who worked with him many times and almost certainly heard some of the insults and sexism? 🤔

What about all the working class young women you creeped over & made feel uncomfortable, who felt they couldn't speak up, eh Gregg?

Horrible old bastard.

It’s about power, he’s a man, which makes him more powerful over a woman physically for a start and he’s a judge/star of a big show which makes him incredibly powerful. Mary Berry Giggling over a soggy bottom for example isn’t the same thing, it’s not predatory.

I used to love Sean Lock 😟.

Sean Lock delivered a scathing critique of Gregg Wallace while participating in a segment about 'national treasures', picking out who should be granted the esteemed label. Following the rejection of Ed Sheeran and Ant McPartlin, Sean Lock turned his attention to a picture of Gregg Wallace.

Holding it up, he remarked: "Now this guy - Gregg Wallace. He came close because I like him, because he wears a hair net, even though he's bald. No, I like him because he's got no sense of irony or humour. But," all of a sudden he interjected: "I've met him."

He followed by slamming a decisive 'NO' over Gregg's image.

And did those men, who witnessed the events, stand up and defend women, I wonder...

Yeah, it's amazing how many of these arguments about how the women can't be trusted/are to blame we see over and over again. With Saville, Weinstein, Harris, Brand, Al Fayed - loads of comments about women being gold diggers, attention seekers, why didn't they report it earlier, etc.

And time and time again, it's pretty fucking clear that a) the women were telling the truth, and b) they did report it, but the perpetrators were too well protected.

Obviously Ggreg hasn't been reported for sexual assault or rape yet, but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the offing. It reminds me a lot of the Huw Edwards case where people were defending him for buying sexual images from a teenager, saying he was a confused man in the closet and hadn't done anything illegal, then it turned out he was a nonce.

Men in power can get away with a lot of shit before it comes to light, and even then it's questionable whether they'll face any consequences. Hell, the US has a rapist and self-confessed sexual assaulter voted in as the next president.

Well said.

Also, things like “soggy bottom” and “nice buns” are a more or less scripted running joke, like the Kirsty and Phil shtick of mild flirtation. Soggy bottom probably was said accidentally once upon a time and it is now said in smutty jest.

But it’s not personal or directed at a specific and female contestant by a male who - by the rules of the show at that moment, even if not in life - is in a position of power.

The rapist/foreplay “joke” is such a very misogynistic and terrible thing to say.

I don't know if this has already been linked but this article reports how many complaints have been made going back years, women have complained and <quelle surprise> nothing has changed

amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/dec/01/what-are-the-allegations-against-gregg-wallace-masterchef

....and we wonder why people are reluctant to report stuff??]

So the BBC arent directly liable if separate production companies produced MC and these factory programmes?

Yes, it had been linked. But it bears repeating.

What do you mean by directly liable?

For failing to act on complaints at the time and effectively giving a green light to his perversions.

They knew about complaints against two other presenters that were revealed this year and did nothing about it. Except keep paying their wages.

Jermaine Jenas?

Yep and worst of all Huw Edwards.

Obviously both of these statements from the above article are rather arse covering. But I think they are right to say that the primary duty to investigate and act is with the production company who hold the contact with GW:

A BBC spokesperson said: “We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated. Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them.”
A spokesperson for Channel 5, which airs Big Weekends, said: “We take any allegations of this nature extremely seriously. We have asked the production company to look into these historical claims. The health and wellbeing of everyone involved in our productions is very important to us and we want all of our productions to be safe and secure places for people to work.”

We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated.

Hmm 🤔🤔

BBC News has been investigating. It operates independently from the BBC itself. Clearly many people have complained about him.

GW seems to think 13 complaints out of thousands of contestants over the years is unimportant. How many of us would amass that many complaints against us and keep our jobs?

I do feel sorry for his current wife. She must have a serious case of the ick by now.

Just run, run away and be free Anne-Marie!

I bet he made her sign a pre-nup.

Yes, amazing isn't it. I remember being a civil servant and knowing what sat within the rules regarding behaviour towards my colleagues and staff. Of course, as a decent human being, it wouldn't have occurred to me to act in any way inappropriately anyway.