20 hours Ago By [email protected] (Paul Speed)
Despite BBC bosses facing pressure to 'pause' MasterChef: The Professionals amid the Gregg Wallace investigation, the popular show still aired as planned last night. But it seems Mirror readers are divided on the broadcaster's decision. Thousands of you voted in our poll asking if the current series should be axed.
A sizeable 1,631 said the current series should be axed but 1,832 thought it should be allowed to run its course. Labour MP Rupa Huq had suggested that airing MasterChef could be 'triggering' for some women who have made serious allegations against Mr Wallace. She argued that pulling the episode would send a strong message and show that the BBC was taking the situation seriously.
Even Downing Street weighed in on the issue, with the Prime Minister's official spokesperson calling the allegations 'deeply concerning'. They added: "Clearly the comments that we've seen from the individual over the weekend were completely inappropriate, misogynistic." Sixty-year-old Gregg has been accused by 13 people of making inappropriate sexual remarks and jokes over a span of 17 years.
While he has strongly denied these claims, stating through his legal reps that they’re untrue, the MasterChef presenter has stepped away from the show while the allegations are being reviewed externally by the show's producer Banijay UK. In a post on Instagram , Mr Wallace said: "I've 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, all walks of life. "Apparently now, I'm reading in the paper, there's been 13 complaints in that time.
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. In 20 years, 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?" Wallace has been co-presenter of MasterChef with John Torode since 2005.
He has also taken part in the show's spin-off programmes including Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals. If you can't see the poll, click here Yesterday, Wallace issued an apology for the comments he made over the weekend, telling Instagram followers: “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.
” What do you think? There's still time to take our poll above and expand on your feelings in the comments below.
