Gregg Wallace is being lined up as a patron for an autism charity after claiming he was discriminated against due to his disability following his dismissal from MasterChef, where 45 out of 83 allegations against him were upheld.
The 60-year-old former television presenter has been approached by Annie Sands, boss of the Disability Advice and Welfare Network (DAWN), who wants to help him better understand his autism diagnosis after he faced criticism for allegedly using the condition “as an excuse” for misconduct.
Wallace was officially sacked from the BBC cooking programme in July after the bombshell Silkins review, commissioned by production company Banijay UK, substantiated more than half of the allegations against him, including one case of “unwelcome physical contact”.
The presenter, who had fronted MasterChef for 19 years before Grace Dent stepped in to replace him, has insisted the most serious allegations were unproven and said he was considering legal action against the BBC and production team.
Charity Boss Defends Wallace
Speaking to the Mirror, Sands defended Wallace against critics who claimed he was using autism as an excuse for his behaviour, saying such attacks were “ridiculous.
“I heard someone say ‘autistic people don’t make inappropriate remarks’. Well, that’s a ridiculous thing to say. Come and work with us for a week, you’ll hear a lot worse than that. Each autistic person presents differently,” she said.
“This is about what’s appropriate in the workplace. It comes down to education, and the ability to make reasonable adjustments.”
Sands, who was diagnosed with autism herself later in life, explained that Wallace’s autism report “screams neurodiversity” and emphasised that everyone deserves support regardless of their celebrity status.
“We help all those who come to us, everybody deserves support. For me it’s about putting Gregg Wallace the celebrity to one side and working with Gregg Wallace the autistic person,” she stated.
Damning Silkins Report Findings
The Lewis Silkin investigation, conducted over seven months, heard testimony from 78 witnesses and analysed relevant documentation and unedited programme footage from Wallace’s time on MasterChef between 2005 and 2024.
Of the 83 allegations made by 41 complainants, the report substantiated 45, with 94 per cent relating to inappropriate sexual language and humour. The findings included 16 allegations of sexually explicit comments, 12 of inappropriate humour and innuendo, seven of bullying, and four of “culturally insensitive or racist” comments.
Patrick Holland, chief executive of Banijay UK, said the report made for “uncomfortable reading” and highlighted “failures in legacy reporting and HR procedures”, particularly before 2016.
The BBC confirmed Wallace’s return to MasterChef was “untenable” and stated it had “no plans to work with him in future”, adding that his behaviour fell “below the values of the BBC”.
Previous Charity Drops Wallace
Last year, the charity Ambitious About Autism dropped Wallace as an ambassador in the wake of the original claims made against him, despite his connection to the cause through his autistic son Sid.
A spokesman for the charity Neurodiversity in Business also told the BBC earlier this month that autism is “not a free pass for bad behaviour”, reflecting wider concerns about Wallace’s defence.
Multiple autism and disability charities criticised Wallace’s attempt to link the misconduct allegations to his diagnosis, warning it could stigmatise the autistic community.
Jessie Hewitson, director of NeuroUniverse, stated: “I don’t make the connection between this alleged behaviour and autism. We’ve never encountered someone coming to us saying they’ve got an autistic employee who’s behaved in a sort of sexually inappropriate way.”
Wallace Praises DAWN Support
Wallace told the Mirror that DAWN has been a “pillar of strength at a very dark time” and that he has learned much about his condition in the two weeks since engaging with the charity.
“So much of what she’s told me has helped me make sense of my condition – she’s made me understand that the persona I learned in Covent Garden fruit and veg market is the same one that I took into the television studios,” he said.
“Everybody loved that version of me. What I’ve learned is that I still have a lot to learn.”
The former MasterChef star added that he wants to continue working with the charity and support them in the future.
Rod Stewart Criticism
Wallace recently responded to criticism from singer Sir Rod Stewart, who branded him a “tubby, bald-headed, ill mannered bully” in the wake of the allegations.
In an interview with The Sun, Wallace said Stewart’s remarks “hurt” him, stating: “I’m actually a Rod Stewart fan. I’ve been to see him twice. So that hurt me. Somebody like that carries a lot of weight.”
He maintained there was “no bullying and no harassing” despite the Silkins report substantiating seven allegations of bullying behaviour.
Wider Industry Concerns
The Wallace case has prompted broader discussions about workplace culture in television, with broadcasting union Bectu describing the findings as showing “a real failure by Banijay to take these issues seriously”.
Bectu head Philippa Childs said it was “entirely unacceptable that complaints have been raised consistently over the last two decades, and yet only in the last few months has any concrete action been taken”.
In response, Banijay announced it would roll out a third-party whistleblowing service across all productions with immediate effect, in addition to existing reporting mechanisms.
The company acknowledged that prior to 2016, there was “little or no formal training or clear escalation procedures in place”, which led to underreporting of inappropriate behaviour, particularly among freelance staff who feared impact on future employment.
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Image Credit:
Gregg Wallace at MasterChef Live 2010 – Photo by hjhipster, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
