"the way she was handling fish 'looked like a rapist doing foreplay'."
Times Radio host Aasmah Mir took to social media to share some of the inappropriate remarks Gregg Wallace allegedly said during her stint on Celebrity MasterChef in 2017.
The host of the BBC cooking show has stepped away from presenting amid a probe into his alleged “sexual comments”.
On X, Aasmah said: “In 2017 I took part in Celebrity MasterChef.
“I put my first dish down in front of the judges and the cameras paused to reset.
“In front of everyone, Gregg Wallace told me to tell a colleague at the BBC ‘that she was a sexy b****’.
“No one said anything. And yes I did complain.”
Sharing what Gregg allegedly said to another contestant, Aasmah continued:
“I left the competition first.
“But two female contestants including Ulrika Jonsson told me afterwards that he had told another contestant that the way she was handling fish ‘looked like a rapist doing foreplay’.”
The Scottish broadcaster also shared a cryptic post of herself wearing the MasterChef apron while she was on the show.
The image was captioned: “Always keep your receipts.”
I left the competition first. But two female contestants including Ulrika Jonsson told me afterwards that he had told another contestant that the way she was handling fish “looked like a rapist doing foreplay.”
— Aasmah Mir (@AasmahMir) November 30, 2024
Thirteen people, including presenter Kirsty Wark, have complained about Gregg Wallace’s conduct while working with him across five shows, from 2005 to 2022.
Meanwhile, Gregg has fired back at the allegations, saying they have come from a “handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.
In a video, he said there had been “13 complaints” from “over 4,000 contestants” he had worked with in 20 years on the BBC One show.
The investigation has heard allegations from 13 people across a range of ages, who worked across five different shows, and one of them appeared on Celebrity MasterChef.
“I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age,” says Gregg Wallace in a video he has posted online this morning.
Nothing says ‘I’m not a misogynist’ like stereotyping women.
Great work Gregg, tell us who you are again. pic.twitter.com/UOmrEZjw5e
— David Challen (@David_Challen) December 1, 2024
Gregg Wallace continued: “I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years – amateur, professional and Celebrity MasterChef – and I think in that time I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life.
“And apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time.
“Now, in the newspaper, I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right.”
He concluded his statement:
“In over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo – can you imagine?”
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