LONDON - Gregg Wallace has been warned by one of the country's most senior barristers not to say the women coming forward with claims against him are making things up.
The comments from Baroness Helena Kennedy, who chairs a watchdog aimed at improving standards of behaviour in the creative industries, come after 50 more people contacted BBC News with claims about the TV presenter, which he denies.
An inquiry into allegations of misconduct against him, conducted by an independent law firm on behalf of MasterChef's production company Banijay, is expected to report back imminently. BBC News has not seen that report, but Wallace insisted it had cleared him of "the most serious and sensational allegations". His comments came as it emerged that he had been sacked as MasterChef presenter as a result of the inquiry into alleged misconduct.
In April, Wallace said he needed "space to heal" after stating in an interview that allegations against him of inappropriate sexual comments were "not all true". He told the Daily Mail he had felt "under attack" and had contemplated suicide. Defending himself last Tuesday, Wallace said he had been hired "as the cheeky greengrocer. A real person with warmth, character, rough edges and all".
In an interview with Newsnight, Baroness Kennedy, who chairs the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, said the public might have enjoyed watching the cheeky chappy but they had not seen his "uglier side". She said if she had one bit of advice for the presenter, it would be not to dismiss the women's claims. "There may be an opportunity for you to make a comeback at some point but don't say that all of these women have made this stuff up and don't say that it's all invented," she said.
Baroness Kennedy also criticized managers across the TV industry for not dealing early on with concerns relating to the MasterChef presenter. She said that if managers employed people who did not know how to behave, they had a responsibility to take them to one side, and nip issues in the bud as soon as possible. "That was not done," she added. As the face of BBC One cooking show MasterChef, Gregg Wallace, 60, was one of the most high-profile presenters on British television for 20 years. (BBC/ Getty Images)
