Gregg Wallace apologises over ‘women of a certain age’ video

Published

4 months ago

December 2, 2024

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MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace has apologised for his response to claims he made sexual comments towards staff and celebrity guests on a range of programmes over 17 years.

At the weekend, the BBC host issued a defiant response to mounting allegations against him, dismissing his accusers as “middle-class women of a certain age” in a series of videos posted on Instagram.

His comments were met with huge criticism – including from Downing Street, where a spokesperson for the prime minister described them as “completely inappropriate and misogynistic” – while industry union Bectu has said the allegations also raise questions about wider cultural issues.

Now, in a follow-up clip shared this afternoon, Wallace has said: “I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.

“I wasn’t in a good head space when I posted it I’ve been under a huge amount of stress a lot of emotion I felt very alone, under siege yesterday when I posted it.

“It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out now while this investigation is under way. I hope you understand and I do hope you accept this apology.”

Wallace has stepped away from presenting MasterChef while the allegations, which were made public last week, are looked into.

His lawyers have said “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.

Broadcaster Kirsty Wark is among 13 people who have made claims, with the presenter being investigated by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK.

One former contestant told Sky News the allegations against the 60-year-old are just the “tip of the iceberg” – claiming he witnessed a “toxic environment” and was so “horrified” he considered quitting the show on his first day. The problem was “systemic” and “larger” than just the presenter, he said.

Earlier on Monday, the prime minister’s official spokesman said Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had spoken with BBC leadership last week, about Wallace and “wider workplace culture” issues.

“Clearly the comments we have seen from the individual over the weekend were completely inappropriate and misogynistic,” the spokesperson said.

“More broadly the BBC is conducting an independent review into workplace culture which must deliver clear and timely recommendations. It’s essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously.”

Former Celebrity MasterChef contestants Ulrika Jonsson, Kirstie Allsopp and Emma Kennedy were among those who criticised Wallace’s response to the initial allegations.

‘They think they’re untouchable’

Labour MP Dr Rupa Huq, who sits on the culture, media and sport committee, said the comments showed “an astonishing lack of self-awareness” from the presenter.

She told Sky News: “Middle class, what’s that supposed to mean? That working class people like a bit of bawdy humour? And, ‘of a certain age’? That kind of behaviour is just not acceptable.”

The controversy raises questions about the “imbalance” in the industry, Ms Huq said, and how presenters and “talent” can be “cosseted”.

“The reason why older women feel able to speak out is that they’re at a position in their career that they feel able to say this, whereas I think you’ve got huge imbalances in broadcasting. The presenters, probably, cosseted, they’re being told they’re talent, they think they’re untouchable, they can get away with this kind of thing.

“So many of these allegations keep surfacing that it is time to investigate them. At the other end, you’ve got the younger runner or whoever, who is very eager to please, in these precarious short-term contracts, who doesn’t want to speak out of line and be gone. So it raises questions about that show and about the wider industry.

“On the committee, we have looked at these kind of issues before, but it it will feel to the viewer that these kind of scandals just keep happening.”

In response to reports that multiple complaints had been raised with the BBC, a source for the corporation said it would not comment on individuals or any internal HR processes, but that it would be “wrong to report the BBC has done nothing if or when matters have been raised with us – not least because it is already being widely reported there were interventions in both 2017 and 2018 where action was taken”.

Allegations were also raised by staff members about Wallace’s behaviour on Channel 5’s Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends to BBC News, with producer Rumpus Media saying it would be investigating allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”.

Banijay UK has confirmed it has appointed law firm Lewis Silkin to lead an investigation into Wallace’s alleged behaviour.

Entertainment

Tom Cruise leads moment of silence in tribute to ‘dear friend’ Val Kilmer

Published

8 hours ago

April 3, 2025

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Tom Cruise leads moment of silence in tribute to 'dear friend' Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.

Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.

Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.

His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.

“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.

“I wish you well on the next journey.”

The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.

Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.

Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.

He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.

Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.

He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.

In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.

The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.

Entertainment

Bruce Springsteen: The Boss to release seven ‘lost’ albums

Published

14 hours ago

April 3, 2025

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Bruce Springsteen: The Boss to release seven 'lost' albums

Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.

The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.

The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.

Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.

Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.

Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.

The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.

Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.

The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.

Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.

The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.

Entertainment

Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

Published

3 days ago

April 1, 2025

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Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.

Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.

“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.

The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.

Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.

He also set up social media accounts in his name.

Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.

Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.

The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”

Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.

In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”

Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”

Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”

The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.

‘I know where you live’

On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.

The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.

Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”

Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.

The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.

“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.

“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”

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Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.

He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”

Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.