Gregg Wallace comment left me crying with humiliation, former MasterChef contestant claims
A former MasterChef contestant has told Sky News that Gregg Wallace made innuendos “constantly” during filming and was heard by crew members – and that one sexually inappropriate comment left her in tears.
Jackie Kearney, who is now a chef and recipe book author, finished fourth in the BBC cooking show in 2011, and later returned as a guest judge.
Following the rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017, she told Sky News correspondent Ashna Hurynag she felt it was “only a matter of time” before claims of Wallace‘s alleged inappropriate comments emerged.
She said she had been “troubled” by his “household favourite status” over the years, as she felt he was “a bit of a sleaze behind closed doors”.
Warning – this story includes offensive comments of a sexual nature
Gregg Wallace’s lawyers say ‘it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature’. Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Wallace, 60, has stepped away from hosting MasterChef while allegations he made sexual comments towards staff and celebrity guests, on a range of programmes over 17 years, are investigated.
His lawyers have said “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
During her time on the show, Kearney said the presenter would make “sexual innuendos about women when they weren’t in earshot”, as well as in front of them. “There were several times that he would comment on my legs, or comment on the skirts I was wearing… he made a comment once: ‘If I’d known you had legs like that, maybe you’d have made it further’.”
In 2015, Kearney published the first in a series of books about vegan food. Following the publication of her second in 2017, she returned to MasterChef as a guest judge and said she wanted to give Wallace and his co-presenter John Torode a copy.
“I was feeling really proud of it,” she said. “John as ever was a complete gentleman.” Wallace was “in the middle of filming”, she said, in the studio having his make-up retouched when she approached him.
“There was crew everywhere and he was mic’ed up,” she said. “I came into the studio and was like, ‘Hi Gregg, I’ve got something for you!’ And he said, ‘Oh, is it a present for my cock?'”
Kearney says Wallace’s co-presenter John Torode (left) was always ‘a complete gentleman’. Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
‘Nobody said anything’
Kearney said she was so shocked, she stopped still.
“I felt like I wanted the ground to swallow me up. The humiliation and embarrassment… but it wasn’t just about what he said. I felt so humiliated, I felt so stupid.”
She said she walked away “as quickly as possible”, went to the toilets and cried.
“The tears were about feeling humiliated, feeling small, feeling made to feel ‘less than’. I also went around that day hating what I was wearing because he’d already commented on my legs earlier that day.”
Kearney thought someone on the crew might speak to her afterwards.
“As I came out of the toilets, I thought maybe someone would come up to me and ask me, you know, ‘Are you okay?’ Nobody said anything.”
Read more:
What are the allegations – and what has Wallace said?
‘Middle-aged women’ comment – an epic failure in crisis management
Kirstie Allsopp is among the former Celebrity Masterchef contestants who have spoken out. Pic: Jonathan Brady/PA
She said there was “no way” other people did not hear Wallace’s “innuendos constantly throughout filming” and that it was put down to “lad culture” and “banter – but if it’s just banter and it’s fun, then why am I crying in the toilet?”
Kearney said she was “disappointed” by the crew, but also in herself for letting it affect her.
She believes Wallace “created an environment” in which his sexually inappropriate comments were “normalised in way that you would expect to see in a ’90s lads mag”.
While many people were aware of his alleged behaviour, it was “difficult” to speak out “about somebody who seems to be very popular… or about a show that is definitely very popular”, she said.
“That’s actually really difficult because you feel like you’re sticking your head above the parapet… people have got a lot to lose by speaking up. If you speak up against MasterChef, you’re going to be dropped by the brand. If you speak out against a popular male presenter, your reputation is the one that’s going to be dragged through the mud.”
Kearney’s claims come after another former contestant told Sky News the allegations that have emerged about Wallace are just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to MasterChef – claiming he witnessed a “toxic environment” on set and that the problem was “larger” than just the presenter.
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Wallace apologises for ‘middle-aged women’ video
Former celebrity contestants including Kirsty Wark, Kirstie Allsopp and Emma Kennedy have also spoken out.
At the weekend, Wallace issued a defiant response, dismissing his accusers as “middle-class women of a certain age“. However, he has since apologised for his comments – which were described as “completely inappropriate and misogynistic” by a spokesperson for the prime minister.
In a video on Monday, Wallace 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.”
What have producers and the BBC said?
Wallace is being investigated by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK.
“Banijay UK takes this matter incredibly seriously but while the external investigation is ongoing, we won’t be commenting on individual allegations,” a spokesperson for the company said.
“It is important to note, that MasterChef welfare processes are regularly adapted and strengthened and there are clear protocols to support both crew and contributors. These include multiple ways of reporting issues, including anonymously. HR contact details are promoted, and contributors are assigned a point of contact on set available to discuss any issues or concerns.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “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.
“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on anything that could form part of Banijay’s ongoing investigation or otherwise influence it.”
Sky News has contacted representatives for Wallace for comment.
Tommy Fury has opened up about having an alcohol problem – citing his drinking as the reason for his split from Molly-Mae Hague.
Hague, 25, shocked fans in August when she announced the end of her relationship with her then-fiancé, with whom she shares daughter Bambi, who turns two later this month.
Both stars had, until now, refused to publicly reveal the cause of the split. Fury, also 25, has now said the break-up came after he began “drinking quite a lot” while unable to train after hand surgery.
“I’d go out and just drink and drink and drink,” he told Men’s Health. “It went on that way for a long time.
“Most nights I would to drink to get black-out drunk. I think that’s what really took its toll on me.”
Shooting down claims he was unfaithful to Hague, Fury added: “Cheating was never a thing. You can ask Molly this yourself. It was the drink, and the drink is not a good thing. You need to get a grip of it.
“We broke up because I had a problem with alcohol and I couldn’t be the partner that I wanted to be anymore. It kills me to say it, but I couldn’t. I loved a pint of beer, loved to drink.”
Fury and Hague were together for five years. Pic: PA
Fury, who was seen spending New Year’s Eve with his ex, added he has “got himself out of that [drinking] now”.
Hague’s break-up announcement came just weeks after she had referred to Fury as the “love of my life” to mark their engagement anniversary on Instagram.
She later told Vogue UK: “No one will ever really know what went down apart from Tommy and I.
“I do think that he will talk about things eventually. I do think that when he’s ready, like, maybe more will be said. But I think that’s for him to do on his terms.”
More entertainment news:
BAFTA nominations revealed
Hollywood events delayed due to fires
Meanwhile, Fury labelled allegations he had cheated as “horrendous” and thanked “everybody who has stood by me through this”.
The pair met on Love Island in 2019 and welcomed their daughter in January 2023. Fury proposed seven months later in Ibiza.
Entertainment
BAFTA nominations 2025: Conclave, Emilia Perez and The Brutalist lead the race as shortlists revealed
This year’s BAFTA nominations have been revealed, with papal thriller Conclave leading the race.
Starring Ralph Fiennes as a clergyman responsible for the selection of the next Pope, the film is up for 12 awards – including best film, best director, best actor, and best supporting actress for Isabella Rossellini.
Spanish-language musical Emilia Perez, which tells the story of a Mexican cartel boss who undergoes gender affirmation surgery, is another best film nominee and has 11 BAFTA nods in total – with star Karla Sofía Gascón up for best actress and co-stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez both in the running in the supporting actress category.
Selena Gomez as Jessi and Karla Sofia Gascon as Emilia Perez in Emilia Perez. Pic: Why Not Productions/ Netflix
The Brutalist, an epic drama starring Adrien Brody as a Hungarian architect attempting to build a life in the US after the Second World War, has nine nominations – including best film and best actor, and supporting nods for co-stars Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones.
Elsewhere there are seven nominations each for Wicked, Anora, and Dune: Part Two, six for A Complete Unknown and Kneecap, and five for Nosferatu and The Substance.
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Rappers Kneecap star in a self-titled music biopic about their rise to fame. Pic: Curzon Film
In the performance categories, Gascon is up against Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), Mikey Madison (Anora), Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun) and Demi Moore, whose performance in body horror The Substance won her a Golden Globe earlier this month.
Fiennes and Brody’s best actor competitors are Timothee Chalamet, for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, along with Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Hugh Grant (Heretic) and Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice).
Kieran Culkin, another recent Golden Globe winner, makes the best supporting actor shortlist once again for his performance in A Real Pain, alongside Pearce and Yura Borisov (Anora), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown) and Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice).
Demi Moore has already won a Golden Globe for her performance as an actress whose star is on the wane in The Substance. Pic: Mubi
Ariana Grande, who stars as Glinda opposite Erivo’s Elphaba in Wicked, and Jamie Lee Curtis, for her performance in The Last Showgirl, make up the best supporting actress shortlist.
For 14 of the 24 acting nominees – including Culkin, Grande, Gascon, Gomez and Moore – it is their first BAFTA film nomination.
Erivo and Chalamet are both previous recipients of the rising star award, which is voted for by the public.
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Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked. Pic: Universal Pictures
In the best director category, Conclave’s Edward Berger is in the running alongside Brady Corbet, for The Brutalist, Denis Villeneuve, for Dune: Part Two, Jacques Audiard for Emilia Perez, Coralie Fargeat for The Substance, and Sean Baker for Anora.
Baker also has nominations for best original screenplay, casting and editing, making him the most nominated individual this year.
The BAFTAs also includes a category for outstanding British film, with Conclave also shortlisted here alongside films including Steve McQueen’s Blitz, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, and Irish-language film Kneecap – which stars the rap trio of the same name in a semi-autobiographical account of their rise to fame.
In total, there are 42 films up for awards, spanning a range of genres.
“The film industry has delivered in spades once again,” said BAFTA chief executive Jane Millichip.
“The skills on display from creative and technical practitioners across the board are phenomenal,” added BAFTA chair Sara Putt.
Could this be the most competitive BAFTAs for years?
What do you get if you bring several priests, a Mexican cartel leader and an architect together under one roof?
Not the world’s most niche fancy dress party, but 2025’s BAFTA film awards shortlist.
Jazz hands and jump scares are the order of the day. Horror is unusually well represented this year, with The Substance, Heretic and Nosferatu all receiving nods, while musicals are also dominating thanks to Emilia Perez, Wicked and, arguably, the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.
Speaking of music, it’s very good news for Irish language rappers Kneecap, whose self-titled semi-true biopic is up for best British film and five other awards. It’s somewhat ironic given that while they rap about wanting Irish independence, the film qualifies as being British as they’re from Northern Ireland.
In the leading actress category, it’s all to play for as none of the nominees has ever won a BAFTA. Fans of ’90s nostalgia will be hoping the Demi-ssaince continues after Demi Moore’s Golden Globe win last month for her performance in body horror The Substance.
Hugh Grant, up for lead actor, last won that BAFTA back in 1995 for his breakthrough performance in Four Weddings And A Funeral. This time around, he’s in the running for a very different role, as a creepy killer in Heretic. He’s nominated alongside another ’90s winner – Ralph Fiennes, who last picked up a BAFTA for supporting actor in 1994.
The nominations this year really showcase a diverse range of genres – and with no clear frontrunners in some categories, could this be the most competitive BAFTAs we’ve seen in a while?
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The nominees for this year’s rising star award, which is the only BAFTA prize voted for by the public, have already been announced, with Marisa Abela, Jharrel Jerome, David Jonsson, Mikey Madison and Nabhaan Rizwan in the running.
And Harry Potter star Warwick Davis has also been revealed as the recipient of this year’s BAFTA fellowship, the organisation’s highest honour, for his “trailblazing work” as an actor and for his charity supporting people with dwarfism.
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Marisa Abela is among the rising star nominees
The BAFTA nominations come at a difficult time for the industry, with the organisers of several US awards ceremonies, including the Oscars, pushing their own announcements back and holding more low-key events due to the wildfires in Los Angeles.
However, the Oscars ceremony is still currently scheduled to go ahead as planned on Sunday 2 March.
The BAFTA ceremony will be held at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday 16 February.
There are 42 films up for awards at this year’s BAFTA ceremony, from blockbusters to indie breakthroughs.
Organisers have now revealed the shortlists, with papal thriller Conclave leading the nominations, followed closely by Spanish-language musical Emilia Perez, and post-war epic The Brutalist.
The star-studded BAFTA ceremony will take place in London on Sunday 16 February.
Here’s the full list of the stars and films up for each prize.
Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence in director Edward Berger’s Conclave. Pic: Focus Features 2024
BEST FILM
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Perez
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Bird
Blitz
Conclave
Gladiator II
Hard Truths
Kneecap
Lee
Love Lies Bleeding
The Outrun
Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Rappers Kneecap star in a music biopic about their rise to fame. Pic: Curzon Film
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Hoard – Luna Carmoon (director/ writer)
Kneecap – Rich Peppiatt (director, writer)
Monkey Man – Dev Patel (director)
Santosh – Sandhya Suri (director, writer), James Bowsher (producer), Balthazar de Ganay (producer)
Sister Midnight – Karan Kandhari (director, writer)
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
All We Imagine As Light
Emilia Perez
I’m Still Here
Kneecap
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig
DOCUMENTARY
Black Box Diaries
Daughters
No Other Land
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Will & Harper
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Pic: Netflix
ANIMATED FILM
Flow
Inside Out 2
Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
CHILDREN’S & FAMILY FILM
Flow
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
DIRECTOR
Anora – Sean Baker
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet
Conclave – Edward Berger
Dune: Part Two – Denis Villeneuve
Emilia Perez – Jacques Audiard
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat
Mikey Madison in Anora. Pic: Neon/Augusta Quirk
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Anora – Sean Baker
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold
Kneecap – Rich Peppiatt, Naoise O Caireallain, Liam Og O Hannaidh, JJ O Dochartaigh
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A Complete Unknown – James Mangold and Jay Cocks
Conclave – Peter Straughan
Emilia Perez – Jacques Audiard
Nickel Boys – RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes
Sing Sing – Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence ‘Divine Eye’ Maclin, John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield
LEADING ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Karla Sofia Gascon – Emilia Perez
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance
Saoirse Ronan – The Outrun
Ariana Grande (left) as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked. Pic: PA
LEADING ACTOR
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothee Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Hugh Grant – Heretic
Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Selena Gomez – Emilia Perez
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Felicity Jones – The Brutalist
Jamie Lee Curtis – The Last Showgirl
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
Zoe Saldana – Emilia Perez
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Yura Borisov – Anora
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice
Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce in The Brutalist. Pic: A24
CASTING
Anora – Sean Baker, Samantha Quan
The Apprentice – Stephanie Gorin, Carmen Cuba
A Complete Unknown – Yesi Ramirez
Conclave – Nina Gold, Martin Ware
Kneecap – Carla Stronge
CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Brutalist – Lol Crawley
Conclave – Stephanie Fontaine
Dune: Part Two – Greig Fraser
Emilia Perez – Paul Guilhaume
Nosferatu – Jarin Blaschke
EDITING
Anora
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
Kneecap
Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Pic: Searchlight Pictures
COSTUME DESIGN
Blitz
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Nosferatu
Wicked
MAKE-UP & HAIR
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
Nosferatu
The Substance
Wicked
ORIGINAL SCORE
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Perez
Nosferatu
The Wild Robot
Demi Moore in The Substance. Pic: Mubi
PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked
SOUND
Blitz
Dune: Part Two
Gladiator II
The Substance
Wicked
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Gladiator II
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
Wicked
Robbie Williams is depicted as a chimpanzee in Better Man. Pic: Paramount Pictures
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
Adios
Mog’s Christmas
Wander To Wonder
BRITISH SHORT FILM
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing
Marion
Milk
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Stomach Bug
EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
Marisa Abela
Jharrel Jerome
David Jonsson
Mikey Madison
Nabhaan Rizwan
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