Nestle memo reveals BBC knew about ‘unacceptable’ behaviour from Gregg Wallace on factory show last year
The BBC was alerted to Gregg Wallace’s “unacceptable” behaviour while filming Inside The Factory more than a year and a half ago, Sky News can confirm.
A memo to staff at the Nestle factory in York shows concerns were raised with both the broadcaster and production company Voltage TV after Wallace’s final visit in February 2023.
The memo, which was shared on the company intranet, says the “experience of some of the team taking part in the filming had not been a pleasant one” and had “compromised” Nestle’s values.
An accompanying letter from Nestle’s head of media relations to the factory manager states: “We have written to the production company… and spoken to the BBC to bring our unacceptable experience to their attention in the hope that it is not repeated in other workplaces around the UK.”
While the letter does not name Wallace directly, it is understood to be in reference to him.
Wallace, who is best known for being a MasterChef presenter, is facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour from more than a dozen people across a range of shows over a 17-year period.
His lawyers have said it’s “entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
Wallace quit as co-presenter of Inside the Factory in March 2023, saying he intended to focus on other TV commitments, and his young son, who is autistic.
At the time, there were reports the 60-year-old former greengrocer had offended some staff at the York factory with inappropriate comments.
The company’s memo reiterates a “zero-tolerance approach towards any allegation of discrimination, harassment or bullying of any kind in the workplace, whether this be by an employee, contractor, or visitor”.
Wallace presents MasterChef alongside John Torode (left). Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
It was the programme’s fifth visit to a Nestle site and its third to York, but the memo says “we will not be working with Inside the Factory again in the future” as the show “did not meet our high standards of respect”.
“We will not tolerate any kind of racism, misogyny, homophobia, bullying, exclusion or harassment and we have strict policies in place to deal swiftly and decisively with this kind of behaviour,” the memo adds.
Sky News has contacted representatives for Wallace, and the BBC and Voltage TV for comment.
Earlier on Tuesday, the BBC confirmed it was pulling three repeat episodes of Inside The Factory from the Christmas schedule.
It told Sky News it would not be removing them from iPlayer “at this stage”.
Two celebrity MasterChef Christmas specials have also been removed from the schedule.
Wallace has temporarily stepped down from the cooking show while the complaints are externally reviewed by a law firm.
Groping allegation
More allegations against the presenter surfaced on Tuesday – with two women claiming Wallace had inappropriately touched them.
One told the BBC he “groped” her bottom, while another alleged he laughed after touching her bottom “with his waist and penis” when brushing past her.
A third claimed Wallace’s penis was partially exposed in his dressing room in what she felt was a “power play”.
The Guardian also reported a complaint that he once asked a sign language interpreter to translate “big boobs” and “sexy bum” in front of the audience at the BBC Good Food Show.
Sky News has also asked the BBC and Wallace’s representatives for comment on these claims.
An increasing number of people have accused the presenter of inappropriate sexual comments in recent days, including a former contestant who told Sky News one remark left her crying in the toilets.
Jackie Kearney said she had been “troubled” by Wallace’s “household favourite status” as she felt he was “a bit of a sleaze behind closed doors”.
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‘If it’s just banter then why am I crying in the toilet?’
Another former contestant told Sky News the claims are just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to MasterChef.
He claimed to have witnessed a “toxic environment” on set and the problem was “larger” than just the presenter.
On Sunday, Wallace responded with a social media video dismissing his accusers as “middle-class women of a certain age”.
The remark prompted a huge backlash, with even Downing Street commenting.
He apologised in another clip on Monday, saying he “wasn’t in a good head space” when he posted the previous video.
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Wallace sorry for ‘middle-class women’ comments
Read more:
What are the allegations – and what has Wallace said?
‘Middle-aged women’: An epic failure in crisis management
What have the BBC and producers said?
Banijay UK has appointed law firm Lewis Silkin to lead the investigation.
A spokesperson said the company takes complaints “incredibly seriously” but will not comment on individual allegations while the external investigation is ongoing.
“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,” the Banijay spokesperson said.
“These include multiple ways of reporting issues, including anonymously.”
In response to reports 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”.
Last week, a BBC spokesperson said any issues raised are taken seriously and there are “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,” they said.
The number of convictions linked to a second Post Office IT scandal being investigated for miscarriages of justice – has more than doubled, Sky News has learned.
Twenty-one Capture cases have now been submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) for review.
Before Christmas, it was around eight.
They relate to the Capture computing software, which was used in Post Office branches in the 1990s before the infamous faulty Horizon system was introduced.
Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of stealing after Horizon software caused false shortfalls in branch accounts between 1999 and 2015.
A report last year found that there was a reasonable likelihood that the Capture accounting system, used from the early 1990s until 1999, was also responsible for shortfalls.
If the CCRC finds significant new evidence or legal arguments not previously heard before, cases can be referred back to the Court of Appeal.
Lawyer for victims, Neil Hudgell from Hudgell Solicitors, says the next steps for the Capture cases and the CCRC are still “some months away”.
He said he is also hopeful that the first cases could be referred to the Court of Appeal before the end of this year.
Lawyer Neil Hudgell described victims of the Capture IT system as ‘hideously damaged people’
“Certainly we will certainly be lobbying,” he said. “The CCRC will be lobbying, the advisory board will be lobbying any interested parties, that these are hideously damaged people of advancing years who need some peace of mind and the quicker that can happen the better.”
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In December the government said it would offer ‘redress’ to Post Office Capture software victims
‘We didn’t talk about it’
Among those submitted to the CCRC – Pat Owen’s Capture case was the first.
Her family have kept her 1998 conviction for stealing from her post office branch a secret for 26 years.
Juliet Shardlow shows Sky News paperwork which could explain discrepancies logged by Capture
Speaking to Sky News they have opened up for the first time about what happened to her.
Pat was a former sub-postmistress, who was found guilty and given a two-year suspended sentence.
She died in 2003 from heart failure.
David Owen and his wife Pat in happier times
Her daughters describe her as coming home from court after her conviction “a different woman”.
“We didn’t talk about it,” said Juliet Shardlow. “We didn’t talk about it amongst ourselves as a family, we didn’t talk about it with the extended family.
“Our extended family don’t know.”
Juliet Shardlow said her mum Pat was a different person after her conviction
David Owen, Pat’s husband, said she lost a lot of weight after her conviction and at 62 years old “looked like an old gal of 90”.
Capture evidence never heard in court
Pat’s family kept all the documents from her case safe for over two decades and now a key piece of evidence may turn the tide on her conviction, and potentially help others.
A document summarising the findings of an IT expert described the computer Pat used as having “a faulty motherboard”.
It also stated that this “would have produced calculation errors and may have been responsible for the discrepancies subsequently identified by Post Office Counters’ Security and Investigation team.”
Read more from Sky News:
Sub-postmasters: ‘Still going through hell’
Compensation for victims of Capture
Calls on Fujitsu for compensation
The computer expert was due to give evidence in Pat Owen’s defence at court as part of her trial – but failed to turn up on the day.
The family say they never found out exactly why he didn’t show up at court.
David said there was a computer all set up in the courtroom for the expert to use to show malfunctions.
David Owen said his wife Pat never expected to lose her court case
“I heard, now I can’t remember who from, that he’d done work for the Post Office,” he said.
“If he turned up to be a witness in court for us to he wouldn’t get any more work from the Post Office.”
Despite best efforts the expert has never been tracked down. The Post Office has declined to comment.
David also described how his wife never expected to lose her case.
“She was so confident. She knew she didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.
“But when the guilty verdict came out she actually fell to her knees in the dock crying her eyes out shaking.”
He said the judge then asked if he wanted to say anything, and David said he got up in court and spoke at length about his wife’s innocence.
The government announced in December that they will be setting up a redress scheme for Capture victims, similar to Horizon.
So far around 100 people who suffered after being accused of stealing from their branch, while using Capture, could be eligible for redress.
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