Paddy McGuinness has opened up about stepping in for Gregg Wallace on Inside the Factory after the latter bowed out amid a BBC investigation into alleged misconduct.
He quit his role on the BBC series after complaints over “inappropriate” comments. According to reports, Wallace allegedly made remarks about the weight of female staff members while filming at a Nestlé factory in York.
Wallace, 60, announced his departure from the show in March 2023, stating that he wanted to dedicate more time to his five-year-old son, Sid, who is autistic.
Paddy McGuinness,51, was announced as Gregg’s replacement in August 2024 after he departed from his roles on BBC favourites Top Gear and A Question of Sport.
On Saturday, the Phoenix Nights star took to Instagram with a statement about joining the show. He wrote: “The whole crew on Inside The Factory have been a joy to work with. A small but perfectly formed team.
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“Also I’d never met @cherryhealey before but we hit it off straight away. Absolutely love working with her, she’s an absolute diamond!”
Viewers can see Paddy and his co-host Cherry, 44, in action when the new series begins on Tuesday (January 7) at 8pm on BBC One.
Paddy’s role on the show has brought him full circle, as the first episode sees him return to the Warburtons factory in Bolton where he worked as a teenager.
In an interview with The Sun, he reflected: "When I was that 16-year-old kid who used to walk to work with butties my mum had made me, who'd have thought all these years later, I'd have had all these amazing things go on in my life.
"It was one of those moments where I thought, 'Bl**dy hell, life, eh? It does have its twists and turns.'"
Ahead of Paddy's first series, the BBC’s head of specialist factual content, Jack Bootle, expressed his excitement about the new host.
He said: "Inside the Factory is one of the BBC's best-loved factual brands. It deserves to have a big star at the helm.
"I'm unbelievably excited that Paddy is putting on his white coat and rising to the challenge. He has a passion for production and engineering that's impossible to fake."
