Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on Gregg Wallace's Instagram video
Gregg Wallace hit back at allegations of historic misconduct, saying they have come from a "handful of middle-class women of a certain age" in an Instagram video shared online today.
The MasterChef presenter said there had been "13 complaints" from "over 4,000 contestants" he had worked with in 20 years on the BBC One show.
Speaking on Sunday's BBC show with Laura Kuenssberg, host Victoria Derbyshire chatted with chef and broadcaster Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall about the allegations.
Hugh said he understood why Gregg had spoken out to defend himself but issued a warning to the presenter, saying his "intervention is not wise".
"I've met Gregg a couple of times," he explained, "He's very likeable. Very professional screen presence."
Hugh continued: "I have a very talented chef on MasterChef right at the moment. She's doing incredibly well and I've really been enjoying watching her and enjoying Gregg's presenting.
"I think Gregg has, what we would likely call a baldy sense of humour, clearly that has offended people. I think one of the issues is that, down the years, people might not have been able to tell him when to rein it in a bit - clearly has crossed some lines.
"In terms of how he is going about defending himself I understand the instinct when you feel you're backed into a corner but I don't think it's smart to come out talking like that when at the moment he should probably be listening."
The investigation heard from 13 people across a range of ages, who worked across five different shows, including broadcaster Kirsty Wark who appeared on Celebrity MasterChef.
Gregg said in the clip: "I've been doing MasterChef for 20 years - amateur, professional and Celebrity 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," Wallace told his more than 200,000 followers.
"And apparently now, I'm 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 finished his statement by saying: "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?"
Gregg's lawyers have strongly denied he engages in sexually harassing behaviour, while the BBC said it will “always listen if people want to make us aware of something directly”.
In a new post, Gregg went on to share that he has had zero complaints from members of staff on all the television shows he has worked on.
