Melanie Sykes complained about Gregg Wallace’s “unprofessional” behaviour after working with him on Celebrity MasterChef.
The TV presenter, now 54, competed on the celebrity version of the BBC cooking show back in 2021 and it ultimately led to her decision to move away from TV. In her memoir Illuminated, Mel described the behaviour she witnessed on set as “jaw-dropping” and that she had “desperately wanted to leave” the show. She has since also spoken about her experience in a YouTube video.
It comes days after the news last week that Gregg, 60, has stepped away from his role on the BBC show as the show’s production company Banijay UK review alleged historical misconduct complaints. Lawyers for Gregg have insisted it is ‘entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.’
Melanie claimed Gregg greeted her on set by asking whether models eat, which she said she considered “unprofessional” and driven by “ignorance and disrespect with an extra helping of arrogance”.
She wrote in her memoir: “The MasterChef experience continued to be an eye-opener, and some unprofessional behaviour on set was jaw-dropping. I was in a cycle of desperately wanting to leave but also wanting to do well because I was in a competition.”
Mel went on to describe Gregg as “braking orders behind the scenes about how we had to behave” and found him “very unprofessional”. She also claimed Gregg told her appearing on the show would benefit her, with her adding: “I didn’t know what to say, so I smiled and said yes, but I was really thinking, ‘Yes, you have finally helped me decide to end my television career once and for all’.”
Speaking in her new video, Melanie said: “I complained afterwards. I said I didn’t want to make a formal complaint because, honestly, I’d spend my whole time in litigation if I did that, and I think that’s one of the reasons why people don’t go for it.”
Melanie, who has suggested that she wants to help reform the industry, also commented in the video: “Every time Gregg came over to the desk, I didn’t really like him being around really … because it’s all about vibrations and energy”.
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The newly-released video comes after it was announced on Thursday that Gregg would be stepping away MasterChef while allegations from 13 people that he made inappropriate sexual comments are investigated. The allegations are said to have been made by people working across a range of shows over a 17-year period.
Gregg spoke out in a video shared over the weekend, telling his followers: “I have been doing MasterChef for 20 years – amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef – and I think in that time I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds [and] all walks of life. And apparently now I am 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 continued: “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?”
He has since apologised for “any offence” caused by the post. He said in a subsequent message: “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 headspace 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 will accept this apology.”
Last week, in a statement, Banijay UK, the production company behind MasterChef, said: “This week the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with presenter Gregg Wallace on one of our shows. Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate.
“While this review is under way, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully co-operating throughout the process. Banijay UK’s duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set.”
Whilst 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.”
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