Gregg Wallace issues apology over controversial ‘middle-class women’ comments after backlash from public

Television presenter Gregg Wallace has issued an apology for a series of comments he made in response to an ongoing investigation over alleged misconduct towards former colleagues.

Taking to Instagram, he shared a lengthy video apologising for previously claiming that only 'a handful of middle-class women of a certain age' have come forward to make accusations about his behaviour.

Wallace, 60, stepped down from his long-standing presenting role on MasterChef last week (28 Nov) amid an investigation 'in relation to historical allegations of misconduct'.

The BBC - who announced his departure from the series - have since stated that a total of 13 people have come forward to accuse him of making inappropriate sexual comments.

Amongst them is former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, along with several other individuals who worked with Wallace in different television shows over a 17 year period.

Wark alleged that, back in 2011, he made a 'sexualised' joke during filming, which she said were 'really, really in the wrong place.'

Wallace went on to respond to the accusations over the weekend, however, with a message issued on Instagram containing numerous controversial remarks about the women that have come forward.

On Sunday (1 December), he said in the social media clip: "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.

Gregg Wallace has apologised for comments he made following his departure from MasterChef (Instagram/@greggwallace)

"Apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time."

He added: "In the newspapers, 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."

But following his statement, which garnered a lot of criticism over his use of the phrase 'middle-class women of a certain age', Wallace has issued yet another video apologising for his remarks.

He said: "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 head space 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 accept this apology."