Penny Lancaster has revealed she was encouraged by her husband to come forward about Gregg Wallace’s ‘bullying’.
It was announced last month that BBC had launched an investigation into historical allegations of misconduct against him, with Wallace stepping down from hosting MasterChef after 20 years.
After this announcement Sir Rod Stewart 79, slammed Wallace, describing him as a ‘tubby, bald-headed bully’ and claiming that he humiliated his wife when she appeared on Celebrity MasterChef.
Lancaster, 53, has now revealed other women speaking out, and her husband’s support encouraged her to come forward.
‘Obviously, it didn’t surprise me that my husband had done that and it didn’t surprise me about the incidents that Gregg Wallace has been accused of,’ she told The Sun.
When asked if she’d have felt confident speaking up without her husband’s support she replied: ‘Exactly, yeah. That is why you so often hear historical cases and people kind of question why it takes someone so long to come forward.’
‘It is that bravery of: “Maybe I am the only one? Maybe I won’t be taken seriously?” Then suddenly you have the backing and support of other people and you feel like you are going to be listened to,’ she said.
She then claimed that Wallace’s alleged behaviour wasn’t a ‘surprise to anyone.’
‘I know a lot of people in the industry and it hasn’t really been a surprise to anyone.
‘It is just a shame that so many women feel like they can’t reach out at the time because they don’t feel supported – so hopefully this will have more of a mark on the industry to protect and safeguard.’
In his post about Wallace in November, Sir Rod wrote: ‘So Greg Wallace gets fired from MasterChef. Good riddance Wallace…
‘You humiliated my wife when she was on the show but you had that bit cut out didn’t you? You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya.’
Wallace has denied any claims of any inappropriate sexual comments or misconduct with his lawyers, saying: ‘It is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature’.
On Loose Women on December 12, Lancaster appeared on the panel show and revealed that she had no idea her husband was planning to post about the incident.
‘I didn’t realise my husband had sent that post out until it was out,’ she told the panel.
‘And of course, you can imagine the influx of inquiries there were.
‘I most definitely was witness and victim to some of the bullying and harassment behaviour of Gregg Wallace and, unfortunately, a lot of those involved in the production team were also witness to that.’
‘I didn’t realise my husband had sent that post out until it was out,’ she told the panel.
‘And of course, you can imagine the influx of inquiries there were.’
It was revealed that 13 people across a range of shows had accused Wallace of making inappropriate sexual comments, including former Newsnight’s Kirsty Wark, who competed on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011.
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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