The BBC has said Gregg Wallace is not “entitled to any damages” in response to a High Court claim filed by the presenter – in which he says the broadcaster caused him “distress and harassment”.

The former MasterChef presenter is suing the broadcaster and its subsidiary BBC Studios Distribution Limited after he was sacked from the cooking show in July.

Wallace was dismissed after an investigation into historical allegations of misconduct upheld multiple accusations against him.

He has filed a legal claim for up to £10,000 in damages, alleging the BBC failed to comply with a request for copies of his personal data, which caused “distress and harassment”.

In its defence filed at the High Court, Jason Pobjoy KC, for the BBC, said: “It is denied that the claimant has suffered any distress or harassment as a result of the responses of the BBC.

“It is denied that the claimant is entitled to any damages, interest or other relief, whether as pleaded or otherwise.”

The broadcaster further denied that Wallace “has suffered any distress or harassment” as a result of its responses.

The court documents also claim that the presenter failed to give the BBC prior notice of his intention to issue legal proceedings.

The broadcaster has admitted Wallace wrote to it on 6 March this year, asking for copies of his personal data.

Mr Pobjoy said the BBC did not provide Wallace with a “substantive response” within three months of his request “primarily due to the lack of proportionality and scale”.

He said that after designating the request as complex, the BBC responded to Wallace on 7 October and provided him with a copy of his personal data.

The barrister said the “voluntary disclosure demonstrates that the claimant has no basis to claim damages for distress, or otherwise, in respect of the withholding of such information”.

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Court documents filed on behalf of Wallace last month said the BBC emailed the presenter on 7 August to apologise for the delay in sending his personal data.

Barrister Lawrence Power said the broadcaster told Wallace it was “taking all reasonable steps” to process the request in “as timely a manner as possible going forward”, but that he had still not received a response when the court documents were filed.

He said that by “failing to fully comply with the subject access requests” made by Wallace, “the defendants acted in breach of their statutory duty and, in doing so, caused distress and harassment to the claimant”.

Wallace began co-presenting MasterChef in 2005, but it was announced in November 2024 that he would step away from his role while the misconduct allegations were investigated.

A review by law firm Lewis Silkin later upheld 45 of the 83 allegations against him, including one of “unwelcome physical contact”.

Wallace issued an apology, saying he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate”.

Social media star “Big John” Fisher has said he is being deported from Australia after he was detained over visa issues.

Fisher, known for reviewing fast food online, arrived in Australia on Tuesday for appearances in Perth and Sydney.

In posts on his Instagram, he said he was questioned by border officials for four hours in the city of Perth.

He said he was due to head home on Wednesday, his birthday, at 6.30pm local time.

“My visa was legal coming in but they are not happy with what I am doing here so they are sending me home,” he said. “To be truthful, I just want to go home now.

“When common sense goes out the window you lose a bit of hope with human beings.

“Well even though I am under lock and key it’s my birthday, I’m still smiling and I still love Australia.

“Just can’t wait to get home to my family and good old England.”

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It is understood Fisher was travelling on an incorrect visa.

An Australian Border Force spokesperson said it did not comment on individual passengers.

Fisher, who has more than 680,000 followers on Instagram, went viral for his love of Chinese takeaway and is best known for his use of the catchphrase “bosh”.

He makes regular appearances at restaurants, clubs and major events around the world.

His son, British heavyweight boxer Johnny Fisher, wrote on Instagram: “The Aussies have detained Big John and are sending him home- rumour has it they are frightened of his express pace bowling ahead of the Ashes.”

They’re getting through 70kg of rice a day and the wholesaler has run out of noodles. Yes, Sumo returns to London on Wednesday.

It’s just the second time a Grand Tournament has been held outside of Japan – and this is a sport that has records going back more than 1,500 years.

It’s 34 years since the Royal Albert Hall hosted the only previous such event on foreign soil – and the appetite for tickets meant all five days sold out immediately.

Much of the focus is on the two grand champions or yokozuna, the 74th and 75th men to attain the rank.

They’re the Mongolian Hoshoryu Tomokatsu, plus Japan’s Onosato Daiki – who this year became the quickest wrestler to achieve the rank in the modern era.

“I’m happy that Sumo is back after so many years,” Onosato said. “I hope I can show the UK fans how fantastic Sumo is.”

“Being a yokozuna has a lot of responsibility,” Hoshoryu told Sky Sports. “We have to show everyone an example of what a yokozuna is – and that’s very difficult.

“My uncle was a yokozuna – and I’m happy to follow in his footsteps. But I came here to London as a yokozuna which he didn’t, so I’m even happier.”

The two are already great rivals.

At the recent Aki Basho – the most prestigious tournament on the sumo calendar – the pair finished with identical records after 15 days of bouts.

It all came down to a final play-off between the two yokozuna – the first time that had happened in 16 years. It was Onosato who came out on top on that occasion.

Hoshoryu says he is a big fan of basketball and football. He follows Chelsea, although his favourite players are going back a bit: “Didier Drogba and Petr Cech. He’s the ‘keeper. I like this guy!”

Early starts and a hearty stew: The life of a rikishi

The wrestlers – or rikishi – have a rigorous training regime.

They live in communal blocks called stables and practice starts early. Perhaps surprisingly, everyone skips breakfast. After training and practice – and for the younger rikishi, chores – the wrestlers all eat together.

The staple of their diet is chankonabe, a hearty stew packed with meat and vegetables. The feeding of the 40 rikishi who have come over for the five-day tournament is a challenge in itself.

Donagh Collins, the CEO of co-organisers Askonas Holt, said: “We are going through 70 kilos of rice a day. Somebody told me that the wholesaler for the noodles has run out of noodles. We’re really pushing the system here.”

The ring – or dohyo – is just 4.55m in diameter and quite small when two giant wrestlers leap at each other.

The aim of the fights is to either get your opponent onto the floor – or, more spectacularly, shove or hurl them out of the dohyo, so spectators in the ringside seats may be getting extremely up-close to the wrestlers.

The last time the tournament was in Britain, the massive Konishiki, known as the Dump Truck, took centre stage.

The giant Hawaiian was the heaviest-ever rikishi coming in at 287kg – or 45 stone. That’s a lot of wrestler to dodge if he comes falling out of the ring towards you.

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The Royal Albert Hall may be firstly a concert venue, but it has hosted the likes of John McEnroe, Lennox Lewis and even Muhammad Ali.

And for the next five days, the cream of the world of sumo will be thrilling the crowds – provided a new noodle supplier is found.

What is a yokozuna?

Yokozuna is the highest rank in sumo, with its name meaning “horizontal rope” and refers to the rope worn around a competitor’s waist as they enter the ring.