Rod Stewart accuses ‘ill-mannered bully’ Gregg Wallace of humiliating his wife

Sir Rod Stewart has lashed out at Gregg Wallace following accusations the TV star made inappropriate sexual comments across a range of programmes over a 17-year period.

In a post on Instagram, Stewart called the MasterChef  presenter a “tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully” and claimed he had humiliated his wife, Penny Lancaster, who appeared on the celebrity version of the show in 2021.

He wrote: “So Greg [sic] Wallace gets fired from Master Chef. Good riddance Wallace … You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you? You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya. Sir Rod Stewart.”

Wallace, 60, will step away from presenting MasterChef while the complaints “about historical allegations of misconduct” are investigated.

His lawyers told the BBC it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.

The presenter is “committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”, according to a statement from the show’s production company Banijay UK.

Ulrika Jonsson, who was also a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef, has said Wallace was forced to apologise after making a “rape joke” during the filming of an episode of the show.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Jonsson said another female contestant became “really distressed” after Wallace allegedly made the remark.

She added that when confronted, Wallace apologised with “tears in his eyes.” She said the other contestant “accepted his apology”.

Earlier, Wallace thanked his Instagram followers for “showing their support” after he announced he was to step away from the BBC cooking show.

In a video posted on the social media platform on Thursday evening, Wallace said: “I would like to thank all the people getting in touch, reaching out and showing their support. It’s good of you. Thank you very much.”

Among the BBC News complainants is former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, who alleged he told jokes of a “sexualised nature” when she was competing on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011.

Wark told the BBC that on two occasions Wallace relayed stories and jokes of a “sexualised nature” in front of contestants and crew and that she felt they were “really, really in the wrong place”.

BBC News said it had been told of other allegations, including the presenter “talking openly about his sex life, taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to ‘give her a fashion show’, and telling a junior female colleague he was not wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans”.

The TV star’s lawyers say “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”, BBC News reported.

A former worker on Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends also told the BBC he was “fascinated” by the fact she dated women and “asked for the logistics of how it worked”.

The statement from Banijay UK says: “This week the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with presenter Gregg Wallace on one of our shows.

“Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate.

“While this review is under way, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully co-operating throughout the process.”

A BBC review last month found that Wallace could continue working at the corporation after reports emerged of an alleged incident in 2018 when he appeared on Impossible Celebrities, according to The Sun newspaper.

Responding to the allegations, Wallace said he did not say “anything sexual” while appearing on the game show.

A BBC spokesperson added: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.

“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.”