Former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace has shared his mother died earlier this year. Speaking in a new interview, the 60-year-old says his mum Mary Pettman, 80, couldn’t understand why people were “picking on” before she passed at the height of his scandal.
“She was always very proud of me. I’m her eldest boy and, of course, I was on the telly. I think it’s terribly sad that in the last days of her life she was reading horrible things about me and witnessing my disgrace,” he says. Gregg stepped back from hosting BBC series MasterChef in November while complaints from 13 women about historical allegations of misconduct were investigated.
This news followed serious allegations from Penny Lancaster, who claimed she was a “victim of bullying and harassment” by Wallace during her time on Celebrity MasterChef.
Wallace, however, doubled down, dismissing the complaints as coming from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age.” His comments were criticised by many, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
Wallace says he has experienced suicidal thoughts over recent months since the scandal broke and reflects on his mother’s passing. “Mum was a spiritualist. I was always sceptical but I’m really hoping she was right. I hope she’s up there looking down and sees my recovery,” he adds. In the interview with the Daily Mail, it’s reported that Wallace’s mother was cremated last month.
It was announced in November that the show’s production company Banijay UK is investigating historical allegations of misconduct against Wallace after he stepped away from hosting the BBC One cooking show. Wallace’s lawyers previously told the BBC “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
The most recent series of MasterChef: The Professionals continued to air amid a storm of allegations against Wallace, but two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials – a Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off and a Strictly Festive Extravaganza – were pulled from the BBC’s schedule in December.
In January it was announced that food critic Grace Dent would replace Wallace on Celebrity MasterChef. The 51-year-old author and podcaster, who has appeared regularly as a guest on MasterChef, will judge the forthcoming 20th series of the celebrity edition alongside John Torode.
Speaking on ITV’s This Morning about her new role, Dent said: “I am absolutely over the moon. Honestly, I’m already drunk on power. It’s one of the most wonderful shows on British TV and, when you go out into the public, you feel that warmth.”
“You can’t eat anywhere in privacy ever again. You can’t even go into a supermarket without people looking in your trolley (saying) ‘I can’t believe she’s bought that’. So it is lovely. It was a dream come true to move to this role, and it’s a very different role, because now I’ve got a lot.”
In her previous role on the show, she would offer her opinion on the contestants’ cooking but would not have to send them home. “Now I am that person. Now I am the baddie, and I don’t enjoy doing that,” she said.
“I think that people think that I go out for dinner and want it to be bad so that I can write horrible things. I absolutely don’t. I want the best for these people, and sending people home is horrible.”
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