Clearly the guy has behaved idiotically in the past. When one is in a workplace environment, inappropriate jokes/unwanted sexual discussion can be extremely upsetting. At my place of work we have to do online training to be informed as to what is expected especially when dealing with the opposite sex, ethnic minorities, potential homophobia etc. Does this happen at the BBC? Did he breach any contractual guidelines?
However the pitchforks are out and his broadcasting career is probably over. He’s not Jimmy Savile, is this an appropriate reaction or should he get a rap on the knuckles and a chance of rehabilitation? I am not going to pile down on some of his accusers, but I believe in a number of cases one or more of them subsequently reappeared in later series of Masterchef as judges or in Christmas specials. They obviously felt comfortable enough in his presence to do that.
I am not condoning his behaviour at all, but some of this seems to be an over reaction perhaps based on how the BBC has failed to deal with worse issues in the past. Savile, Travis, Edwards etc
A twat who clearly can’t read the room, but – unless more indiscretions exposed – not quite Brandian, who pushed the boundaries that enabled a variety of wannabes to get in on the fun. Life is not a “Carry On” film, even if the films can be funny. The point is they are playing with propriety in a skit, not in reality. You have to know the difference between fantasy and reality, and when “banter” is acceptable and when it isn’t. When “banter” is actually bullying or a power-play, it’s not playful irreverence.
I agree, however he probably just doesn’t have the tools to recognise what he was doing. A friend of mine used to make (very) mild homophobic references at work. Somebody complained and he was reprimanded at the time. A little while later he was let go, I don’t know if his earlier indiscressions were a factor, but he genuinely believed it was all harmless.
It’s not up to someone making offensive remarks to decide how much offence should be taken. If the offender misjudges how offensive their remarks are, it doesn’t make them OK and they should suffer any consequences.
Don’t be daft. Herein lies madness. No one has the right not to be offended.
Does ‘they should suffer any consequences’ extend to a fatwa?
Memo not yet received by the honourable Tahir Ali, MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley.
1′.I didn’t say anything about rights.
2. No.
If I say something that you decide is deeply offensive, fine, that’s your prerogative, but it’s not my fault if you find it so and you have no right at all to decide that there are any justified ‘consequences’.
Salman Rushdie knows a bit about this sort of thing – although somehow doubt he would extend his thinking to cover the offence dished up by GW:
“Nobody has the right to not be offended. That right doesn’t exist in any declaration I have ever read.
If you are offended it is your problem, and frankly lots of things offend lots of people.
I can walk into a bookshop and point out a number of books that I find very unattractive in what they say. But it doesn’t occur to me to burn the bookshop down. If you don’t like a book, read another book. If you start reading a book and you decide you don’t like it, nobody is telling you to finish it.”
I tend to agree with Alias that rights were not spoken about. It’s a question of social mores and norms. Consideration for others.
I could walk into a crowded room and let rip a ripe sulphurous fart and be within my legal rights to do so. It doesn’t make my behaviour pleasant for others. I would consider what has been reported as Wallace’s boorishness as similar. Nobody has the ‘right’ to stop him from being a twat, but it’s thoughtless and inconsiderate.
Those books on the shelf might be offensive, but nobody is making you read them.
That’s all. Free speech comes with responsibility for the consequences – we are social beings, not sovereign individuals. Now, let’s open a window and I’ll promise to eat fewer sprouts next time.
To me it would be dependent upon whether said rip was audible and identifiable to you. If silent, I would say you are when in your rights to feign ignorance thereof. All part of the smelt it/dealt it, denied it/supplied it axis, in my book.
There’s a point where things transcend from offense to abuse. Pejorative comments about ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental incapacity are not the problem of the people to whom the comments are directed.
There’s a certain type of man (using the term loosely) that gets a thrill from making women uncomfortable by making sexually explicit comments in their presence. It’s a power play. It’s intended to intimidate, unsettle and humiliate. Looking at some of the things Wallace has actually said, I think that’s what he’s been doing.
I’m not sure I understand this. Are you saying that it’s the women’s prerogative to be offended, but that’s not Gregg Wallace’s fault, and the BBC have no right to stop employing him, which is the likely consequence here?
Masterchef is made by an independent production company. According to the The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, the BBC don’t supervise production and only get dragged in when something like this happens.
As an aside, I’ve always thought Wallace was a cnut so this was no real surprise.
I have a problem with this but also recognise my view is probably not in the majority..
I don’t particularly like Greg Wallace (nor his colleague John Terode for that matter) but do like the programme. As far as I can see his indiscretions are verbal only and I agree with @dai that a rap on the knuckles would probably be the most appropriate punishment.
Kirsty Wark is a seasoned tv personality that I would consider to be a mature professional. Yet in 2011 she apparently was the recipient of some sexual comments that she found distasteful I would consider her more than able to stand up for herself and let him know in no uncertain terms that she found his comments distasteful and to refrain.
Not sure why she would address this 14 years later in a public setting.
For the record I have previously had my arse groped by women on more than one occasion, have had to walk the length of a factory floor to a chorus of wolf whistles and sexual innuendo. It happens and I think sometimes the puritanical response and the witch hunt that follows is predictable and sad.
As alluded to by dai I also worked for a company with a HR dept and clear guidelines on acceptable behaviour although the current model was developed over a number of years and parameters changed.
Any investigations were not in the public domain and this is how this case should be conducted also.
“No smoke without fire” … but agree that Kirsty Wark does strike as one of those feisty types who would NOT keep this under wraps for 13 or 14 years
(unless there was some sort of NDA in the mix that has now expired, but surely that is pushing any conspiracy a bit too far)
It also happened to Aasmah Mir.
Today’s news reports more than one incident of rubbing his todger up against a lady and pinching of bums. So no longer verbal only. I can’t say I’m surprised.
He’s always set off my inner tw*t detector and I’ve been known to leave the room whenever he appears on screen, mumbling “I’m not watching this shit” to anyone in earshot. Turns out I was right.
The fact that many up of us find him so unpleasant already certainly makes it easier for me at least to condemn him. There have been recent allegations of sexual misconduct against the author Neil Gaiman (allegations which he denies). I like Gaiman’s books, and liked him the couple of times I have met him, which makes his case harder for me to compute. I wanted to follow a mental process which would excuse him because I was predisposed not to think ill of him, a process I did not not feel compelled to follow in Wallace’s case because I felt vindicated in my existing opinion.
Clearly behaviour of that sort is unacceptable.
@fentonsteve sorry but it doesn’t turn out you were right at all. At this moment nothing has been proved and it is all hearsay. Not liking the programme has nothing to do with this and is a bit of a trite remark.
If stones are bring slung then Kirsty Wark needs to be very careful. She aggressively attacked Alex Salmond about alleged sexual impropriety – something he was acquitted of in a court of law.
There are also questions about some of her business dealings.
These people in a public environment really need to learn how to behave – Wallace and Wark both.
Apart from questioning Alex Salmond vigorously, what exactly has Kirsty Wark done? You seem to be taking a position that she shouldn’t have a valid take on her interactions with GW and that they both have cases to answer.
@Leedsboy No that wasn’t my suggestion. I perhaps didn’t explain it too well.
Quite rightly there is going to be an investigation into GW’s comments/actions.
I assume if this investigation is conducted correctly then it will include interviewing the people who have made the accusations. It was said on here that Kirsty Wark has nothing to answer to.That is clearly not right. If she has made comments that questions someones integrity (if he has any) and most likely will result in him losing his job then of course she has to explain her comments to those investigating the matter.
Everyone in this country is entitled to a fair trial and equally no one should be able to make slanderous comments without being able to back them up.
Um, Steve, I said “reports of” because it was on the front page of the BBC News website yesterday. And it still is this morning.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgj64237v6zo
Yes, nothing is proven, but I don’t see how that makes me wrong.
I don’t like the show or the man when he appears on the box in my living room. It might be trite, or it might just be, I dunno, my opinion.
Breathe, count to ten…
Based on these posts, above and below, I assume that Steve has an issue with Kirsty Wark.
I’m betting she has publicly made some withering comments about Americana.
Arf!
@fitterstoke Only from the perspective that of all the presenters on the BBC I considered her to be one of the most feisty who would take no shit from those she was interviewing. As an interviewer I rated her very highly and still do although I have seen her less in recent years.
If GW made comments that she felt were unacceptable she is exactly the type of person I would have expected to turn round and tell him to fuck off. Not wait 14 years and make a comment.
That is all.
I expect she did “tell him to fuck off” at the time. As you say, she seems a no-nonsense woman.
I don’t think, in her case, it’s a case of waiting 14 years and then making a comment. She’s unlikely to have been explicitly asked her opinion about him in the intervening years until now.
Probably she’s annoyed that he seems to have continued behaving that way until now without any consequence.
As far as I am aware he wasn’t doing anything personal towards her, just making dumb, sexist outdated jokes and comments
Yebbut, Kirsty so abhors the cliché…and who can blame her, in this case.
She didn’t wait 14 years. She did exactly what she was supposed to do and reported it at the time. She’s repeated it now because nothing happened and it’s taken a newspaper to draw out and string together what seems to be a pattern of behaviour.
Telling women their concerns and complaints aren’t valid because they didn’t say anything more immediately is deeply unhelpful. It feeds directly into why many women choose not to say anything and why so many men get away with abusive behaviour for so long.
Having conducted more than my fair share of sexual harassment investigations professionally,, concur 100%.
Even in the most clear cut of cases, it was possible to tell how difficult it was for some of them.
“If stones are bring slung then Kirsty Wark needs to be very careful. She aggressively attacked Alex Salmond about alleged sexual impropriety – something he was acquitted of in a court of law.”
You’re trying to create equivalence between these two things? That’s almost Trumpian in its logic. His own lawyer called him a nasty piece of work; strikes me Wark was pursuing legitimate lines of enquiry.
But Si, surely nobody could possibly believe the much beloved nationalist capable of such activity. That would make him a creepy lech.
You may very well think that. I couldn’t possibly comment.
Just to be clear I loathed Alex Salmond (and Nicola Sturgeon for that matter).
My understanding is that she (KW) continued her attack after he was acquitted – unless she knew something the rest of us didn’t then I would say this amounts to a vendetta.
Considering the source of the AS accusations has left office in almost disgrace and all 13 cases against him were disproved then you have to question why KW continued her line of attack. His own lawyer allegedly calling him a nasty piece of work doesn’t really have much relevance and I don’t see anything remotely Trumpian in my comments. Please explain because I am completely puzzled as to what you are alluding to.
I think it is extremely unlikely that a) the production company had a particularly effective HR function and b) that GW was actually an employee. Likening this situation to a corporate workplace is naive.
In the world of freelancing, you suck up the bad behaviour because you have very few employment rights.
For what it’s worth, if GW had said that he clearly needs to reflect on his behaviour because at least 13 people have expressed that he made them feel very uncomfortable he would not be were he is tonight. His problem stems from the fact that he seems unable to consider he has been a bit of a dick.
Allegations of unwanted physical contact.
Wandering around naked except for a sock on his…you can fill in the rest.
If TV shows are NDAing participating, someone’s done something bad.
Do we have any proof of him walking around naked except for a sock?
I have seen this reported but really don’t think even he would be that stupid – he would look ridiculous if the sock fell off.
I find if you stretch a a pair of old football socks enough, you can get just about enough traction for it to fit relatively snugly, without dropping off.
Pay attention to retro! He’s the voice of experience – he’s been to more folk festivals that you’ve had hot dinners!
Football sock? Aren’t they 12 inches long? Is that really necessary.
Kirsty Wark might be able to defend herself but why should she have to? What about the non seasoned pros that he’s acted out in front of? Why should they put up with it?
There are now numerous accounts of Wallace making rape jokes. I see nothing puritanical about finding that objectionable. His rant about “women of a certain age” showed exactly what kind of “man” he is.
‘Numerous accounts’ says it all. They are accounts not fact. If he has made rape jokes then they are clearly objectionable and he should face the consequences.
However I had not seen such accusations and based my comments only on what I have read so far.
If Kirsty Wark has made comments that are questionable then of course she has to defend herself – you can’t just make things up. Why should she be different from the rest of us? The whole point of the comments I made were that none of us know other than what is reported in our unreliable media who let’s face it would love to see the demise of the BBC.
Perhaps too someone should investigate some of Kirsty Warks past deeds.
It would be interesting to hear what Greg’s colleagues have to say about his personality -,they would have been in close proximity and will be aware of his personality traits.
I think the word ‘numerous’ is doing more work in the sentence than the word ‘accounts’.
Thought that too.
Kirsty Wark’s accusations have been verified by another contestant, Aggie Mackenzie. And it’s not just Wark saying Wallace’s behaviour was unacceptable – it’s also Emma Kennedy, Aasmah Mir, Dr Kate Thomas, Melanie Sykes, Jackie Kearney, Kirstie Allsopp, Ulrika Johnson and on behalf of Penny Lancaster, Sir Rod.
These are just the celeb contestants going on record, some of whom made complaints. In addition there are complaints from production staff, from a variety of productions Wallace has been involved in. A number of people have tried to move this beyond their word against his, and been ignored. What should people subjected to the kind of comments Wallace is accused of otherwise do? How many people need to speak out before their comments are treated seriously?
@fortuneight they are being treated seriously and hopefully will reach a proper conclusion. I think we can safely say he will no longer be on our TV screens and I won’t miss him as I was never a fan as said at the start of this post.
I do have a problem with cases like this being played out in public because the media tends sensationalise things and can distort matters.
As regards Sir Rod – you don’t think when he was in the Faces he never made sexual comments to his fans/groupies? That is stretching the imagination just a tad.
I agree that cases playing out in public is far from ideal. Trouble is, as we’ve seen here, and far more seriously with Savile and Al Fayed, it’s only by taking the issue into the public domain that victims realise they weren’t the only ones, and it enables some to speak out where they have tried to before and been ignored / dismissed, or they were simply too fearful.
Kirstie Allsopp is no shirking violet, but she’s explained very effectively why she didn’t make more of what happened to her at the time, and as her Twitter feed illustrates, has had dogs abuse from a variety of “men” in return. Exactly why women are reluctant to call out unacceptable behaviour.
As for Sir Rod, I don’t see how what Wallace allegedly did to Penny Lancaster has any bearing on speculation about Rodders.
If you behave like 70s backstage Rod Stewart in the workplace in 2024 you’re highly likely to get yourself sacked, and you’ll have no real complaints when you do. Because that’s not what the workplace is for.
I don’t think anyone here is saying no one should ever make sexual comments. They’re saying you shouldn’t do it at work, and particularly when you hold a well paid, high profile role that gives you power over others.
Also; three “g”s in Greg. Not on, is it?
“It would be interesting to hear what Greg’s colleagues have to say about his personality.”
You’re in luck – a number of them have already come out publicly to tell you about his personality.
I suspect that, in the world of TV, the technical folks and the minions all get the training on what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour, while the “talent” don’t have to partake in that sort of stuff.
I agree that it’s not down there with Savile, Brand etc. Just tedious and completely unnecessary. It’s stressful enough cooking to impress, on camera, against the clock, without having to put up with that shit too.
A bit of time in TV-land’s wilderness will be good for his soul, assuming he has one. Maybe he’ll come back a more thoughtful, pleasanter person.
I was inclined initially to take the view that this was one for a warning, and apology and no more. But three things have happened since the initial complaints. Firstly more complaints (of a similar nature) have emerged. Secondly it has also emerged that he has had warnings before going back some years but, if the allegations are true, he clearly hasn’t modified his behaviour. And thirdly he has doubled down and shown not a scintilla of acknowledgment that he may have genuinely caused offence and should reflect on that. It’s not a police matter but in any workplace it would certainly be a sacking.
His video response on the weekend was tone deaf
Or calculated to appeal to a culture warrior victimhood audience because he realises his mainstream media career is in the dumper and he needs a new grift.
I agree his response was frankly embarrassing and ill judged to say the least. He certainly didn’t run it by anyone and for the response alone it is likely he will not work in TV for a very long time if ever. I have never been a fan of his but I still have a problem with how these stories are played out in public.
The problem for some media professionals is that their personality is their main asset. This cuts both ways. As I see it, GW is not denying these things happened. His initial position seemed to me to be these things are just fun and part of his personality and so it’s alright.
End his contract, get a replacement, and move on!
Although the presenters are the Ant and Dec of BBC food so that may not be easy.
The current show (my favourite version) “The Professionals” doesn’t have Torode and Wallace could be fairly easily replaced for future versions. The regular version has, I believe, a full series in the can so either they bin it, edit him out or wait a reasonable amount of time before airing it. Could always bring back Loyd Grossman!
That would require more pasta sauces.
Bodie and Doyle? Aren’t they a bit old now?
Well, Bodie hasn’t been a…body for quite a while.
So far as I can tell most people defending him, or at least suggesting he has been too harshly treated, begin by saying, ‘I don’t like Greggg Walllace but …’ I’ve always found him unwatchable but plainly he had some appeal otherwise he wouldn’t be so difficult to avoid in the BBC schedules. Someone must have been watching his many programmes because he was a draw. He’s like the bald Mrs Brown’s Boys, apparently massively popular though no one will confess to being a fan.
No one confesses to Mrs Browns Boys because it is completely devoid of any comedy.
If any one wants to disapprove me of this belief please post a video below.
Here’s that video of the funniest bits from Mrs Brown’s Boys.
“No one confesses to Mrs Browns Boys because it is completely devoid of any comedy.”
I’ve never seen it, but surely that can’t be the only reason? After all, many people admit to liking Sophie’s Choice.
Someone keeps recommissioning it so there must be an audience. When I’ve seen it, I’ve found it terribly old fashioned, a cross between panto and an end of the pier show but I suppose it’s been deliberately made like that. Presumably, people like the familiarity of various characters fulfilling their narrow role week in week out and not everything has to be clever but it’s not for me.
The essence of what discerning people used to gripe about, when they were claiming TV was being dumbed down.
Dumb = ratings, apparently. Who’d ‘a thought?
Apart from “but it’s not for me”, isn’t that a good summary of this site?
I’ve never seen it as watching people bake cakes sounds an odd thing to do but each to their own.
That’s Bake Off
Twang has been avoiding Mrs Brownies Boys.
You’re thinking of Mrs Boye’s Brownies. Which may, or not, be of the edible kind.
Are they the kind which give you the giggles? Might explain how Mrs Brown’s Boys gets recommissioned.
I think Michael McIntyre is devoid of any comedy but he is still on the TV every bloody week. Drives me up the wall.
I really enjoy MasterChef in all its forms but not because GW is presenting it. Presuming for the time being that there will be no way back for him from this, the show will be just as enjoyable with someone else.
I didnt like Torode or Wallace and my preference would be maybe Rick Stein or Jamie Oliver but suspect it won’t be either.
Stein is too old, please not Jamie Oliver. Not sure they would want a chef in that role, a food critic could work.
I’d be happy to do it, if asked.
Get quite emotional especially when the amateur cooks are creating absolutely amazing plates of food.
As does Torode, sometimes.
I’ve never watched Masterchef, so haven’t seen Gregg Wallace much, except for the ‘biscuit bass’ mash video that was quite funny. What I did see of him suggested he had a forceful personality, which I guess goes along with the popular image of some chefs (see also Gordon Ramsey).
But it’s become a story bigger than its source – about gender and power and culture, which is interesting in and of itself.
I don’t think it’s a witch hunt, a case of ‘you can’t say anything these days’, of woke tyranny. It’s just a case of power imbalance and the abuse of it. It’s inevitable that some people will have more power than others. But that should be something that is given respect by those who have it. Just treat people at all levels decently. ‘I see You’ did a post on this on Facebook that captures the essence of this for me. I’ll post it below, as it’s quite long, but a good read.
Carry-On was mentioned above. It dealt in innuendo, but because the female characters were strong and the male characters were usually foolish and/or humbled by their encounters with Hattie, Babs,, Joan and June, etc, , it didn’t feel to me creepy in the way that some of the gurning Confessions did.
I see you, Gregg Wallace.
Phwoar! This isn’t what you were expecting, was it? This isn’t your ordinary pud. This is a hot, fresh, sweet, salty, lip-licking gobful of comeuppance. You just can’t stop sticking your spoon in it, digging deeper and deeper, despite the PR team desperately windmilling their arms just out of shot. It’s quite something, isn’t it? We’re going to have to take you straight through to the final two. HR meetings, that is.
You just can’t say anything any more, can you? Not without some uppity middle-class woman of a certain age running off to the complaints department. Why is it always the more world-weary and financially secure ones that get offended? Why is it only the ones with established careers – who have been dealing with tedious men in the workplace for years – that are always so keen to take you down a peg or two?
It’s never the junior freelancers, or the terrified members of the public stood in front of a TV camera for the first time in their lives, melting down as they mangle a quenelle under the pressure. You distinctly remember nearly all of them laughing. So hard, in fact, that some of them still had tears in their eyes an hour later. Keep going with that pattern recognition, Gregg. You’re so close to actually getting it.
Nope, it’s gone. This isn’t the time for quiet self-reflection about your own conduct! There’s just one thing this situation calls for, and it’s to film a video blaming the women. That’ll deal with those nasty accusations of misogyny. It should also put to bed this silly idea that you might not know just how offensively you come across. Who needs experts in defensive comms, when you can just manifest and self-actualise your own victory in this Total PR War?
Who’d have thought it could come to this? Well, apart from Popbitch that is, who have been recording examples of your ad-libbed comic genius for posterity dating back years. It’s almost as if everyone around you has been sick of your shit for ages, quietly seething with resentment for how desperately uncomfortable you made them feel. Why not tell Popbitch, when all you want is for someone – anyone – to actually challenge the creeps on their bullshit? It’s not like BBC management were taking any of them seriously.
Every off-colour joke you’ve ever told, each of them leaping straight over that firmly established line of cheeky British daytime TV innuendo. Why go for wit, when you can leap straight into ‘every woman who hears this joke suddenly craving a scalding hot shower’ territory? So many of them, quoted in Typewriter in that double-spaced newsletter. I mean really, where’s the harm? It’s just ‘banter,’ isn’t it? A bit of slap and tickle, cheeky wink, Yakety-Sax themed cheekiness.
What does that dish remind me of? I know, it’s my aunt’s c**t! An apparent quote from you there. One that inexplicably ended up on the cutting room floor. Why, I have no idea – it’s an expertly written bit of harmlessly suggestive wordplay that could have been lifted directly out of any of the Carry On films.
I’m sure everybody on set roared with laughter that day, particularly the women. Like the time you told another contestant in front of Ulrika Johnsson that they were handling a fish ‘like a rapist attempting foreplay.’ I can’t think of a single reason why as many as one in four women wouldn’t have roared with laughter at that one.
Wasn’t that the day Monica completely coincidentally snapped a knife sharpener, the corner of one of her eyes twitching? Oh how we laughed, as that jagged spar of steel bounced and twanged across the studio floor before embedding itself in the door of a microwave. It was all just harmless fun!
But why stop there? What’s the difference between jam and jelly, Gregg? You don’t present Masterchef for twenty years just to get more than a dozen complaints of workplace harassment jellied up your arse! Wait, what do you mean I’m ‘suspended with pay pending an investigation?’ This is political correctness gone mad! Didn’t you read my column? I’m just a normal bloke!
No wonder you’re so ruffled. It’s an injustice, isn’t it? It’s classism, that’s what it is – they can’t stand the working boy for having done good. You’re being persecuted by the middle-class liberal elites, the humourless ones who can’t take a bit of harmless banter. It’s definitely not narcissism that causes you to instantly recast yourself as the wronged hero of this story. I can practically hear the word “woke” bubbling up in your throat from here.
I can feel it rising through your convulsing body, a throttled battle cry of frustrated anger that will soon erupt forth like Caesar first learning to speak. I give it a week, max, before you finally snap and grab that cattle prod, roaring “WOOOOOOKE!” across social media like every other grotesque boor that thinks it’s a magic word for excusing their bullshit.
Actually thinking about it, maybe we should drop the Caesar analogy. You shouldn’t grab the cattle prod. You’ll only end up windmilling it at an intern.
I see you, Gregg Wallace. I fucking see you.
Magnificent
Excellent stuff Sal.
Thanks, both, but credit where it’s due, and that’s not to me.
Here’s an illustration of where Wallace may have been going wrong.
Sean Lock had the measure of him. Start a minute in.
That show is a bit problematic for me. It’s deeply uncomfortable watching usually 5-6 blokes shouting about wanking (etc.) at 2 embarrassed women.
I don’t enjoy Ed Sheeran’s music either, but him being ginger is a gift to these non-alternative comedians, they can repurpose their ‘black fella’ jokes with minimal effort.
I’m not a fan, clearly.
It’s certainly weird to see Jimmy Carr popping up in this thread
What’s he done now?
*rolls eyes*
Don’t really know this guy, but it sounds like he’s not history’s greatest monster, just a tedious boor of the sort that has historically blighted many a workplace and whose 15 minutes are now up.
Doesn’t deserve to have his life ruined, does deserve to lose his job if there’s any truth in the accusations. Could argue he didn’t seem that desperate to hang onto it; don’t know many places where this stuff wouldn’t get you the tin these days. You’d certainly expect it to be pretty career limiting for most regular employees at the BBC.
Speaking of which, isn’t the real scandal here that the rap on the knuckles being called for above doesn’t seem to have materialised when complaints first surfaced? Sounds like the situation may not have reached this pitch had lines been drawn a few years back.
Agreed that the failure to properly deal with this when there have been complaints before is a major issue. And from the reported comments of some of the women I think frustration at that – at not being heard and not taken seriously- is as much a driver of their wish to go on the record now as is Wallace’s alleged behaviour.
My understanding is that a wrap was issued in the form of a warning.
Gromit does bare a passing resemblance to John Terode, now I think about it. Even the ears.
My wife maintained that during the course of her life she had met many boys but very few men. It would seem from many reports that Gregg Wallace is in the former camp rather than the latter.
Just another ‘boy’ with an over weaned sense of entitlement who is emotionally arrested at the age of fifteen. There’s a lot of them about. Our American cousins have just elected one.
That Wallace apology in full:
Hmm wonder why the Maul is up in arms and not crying about cancelling?
Stephen Fry: “The right wing press generally speaking promotes & pushes an anti-woke agenda… but they have to balance that against their hatred of the BBC & their hatred of the BBC trumps their hatred of wokeness… a rather bizarre spectacle..”
I, for one, would like Stephen Fry to replace Gregg Wallace on Masterchef. Nomnitive determinism of sorts as well.
My vote goes to Mr Potato Head. Like for like.
It would carry on the tradition of the role being taken by someone who is somewhat chippy.
Robert Donut? One for the cineastes there.
Reese Witherspoon?
Pizza Andre.
Stew Francis
Paul Heaton and Norman Cook
Sushi Kendall.
Fudge Judy.
Cake Winslet.
Pitta Von Cheese.
Pans People
Sophie Dahl
Manfried Mann
Frankie Boyle, Matt Baker.
For that European market Helmut Kohl and Hubert Knoblauch.
Closer to home David Garlick
Ginger Baker.
Declan Rice and Edwina Currie.
G Love & The Specials’ Saucepan
Cher Fryer
And if they mess up the cooking, they can all pop down to Jason’s Doner Van to get a takeaway instead.
Fish from out of Marillion
Narna Moussekouri
Sammy Aga?
Wok Gan
Cooker T and the MSG
One for the post-punk AWers: spatch Hula
Mezzaluna del Rey
Danny Baker?
Good God, no!
It’s probably impossible to keep him out of the media completely, but at least we could keep him off the telly.
Think of the children!
NutMeg White
Kula salt Shaker
{Get on with some bloody work, Fenton}
@pencilsqueezer
Him from Goodbye. Mr. Chips
The very one.
He was also in the original 39 Steeps
👏
Michael Fish
Alex Salmond
Nicola Sturgeon
Chris Grayling
Amber Rudd
Walter Trout
Alfie Bass
Julian Bream
Magnus Pyke
John Torode’s silence is deafening though isn’t it?
It’s well-known that they’re not friends. Also, Torode’s partner Lisa Faulkner has made allegations.
Yet one of them was best man at the other’s wedding. What is the real truth here?
Faulkner has appeared on the show multiple times since her first appearance as a contestant
He’ll be fine. A career on GB TV is a shoo-in, followed in 5 years by a position in the next Reform UK government.
Verbal bullying and harassment used to be a thing when I first started working in the hospital system in the 1980s, especially for those of us at the bottom of the NHS food chain. But that kind of behaviour wouldn’t be tolerated of anyone in the workplaces I’ve been employed in over the last few decades. Do celebs and politicians have some kind of unique workplace code of conduct?
As the old fart in the office I now find myself occasionally being light heartedly rebuked by the kids for saying or doing things in a way that is no longer considered quite appropriate. When this happens I apologise and explain that I’m out of touch and probably don’t even realise I’m doing it – and encourage them to tell me every time I do it. Seems to keep everyone happy.
I started a mechanical engineering apprenticeship in 1980. Looking back, the environment was quite toxic: lots of verbal bullying, sexism and generally offensive stuff. The corporate places I go to these days are the exact opposite: inclusive, tolerant and they go out of their way make going to work as pleasant as possible. I know not everywhere is the same but we’ve come a long way in 40 or so years.
I recognise that workplace. And OK I wouldn’t want to go back there. The Sticks and Stones mentality that it incubates, I think of as an asset. But maybe it just anaesthetises to whatever comes along.
I’ve just seen his apology video. It is a proper apology with no “if” clause and seems heartfelt and honest.
E2A: Although on a second look it is only an apology for the “women of a certain age” statement, and not for any previous wrongdoing. Hmmm.
As Chartered IPD member Mrs F said, “I apologise for any offence caused” is not the same as “I am sorry”.
Clearly a very wise woman, if I may say so…
Except when it comes to choosing husbands, it would seem. Either that, or she likes them dull.
“Any offence caused”is positively grovelling compared to
“Any offence I may have caused”
Or even more egregiously
“Anyone who may have taken offence”
“Lessons have been learned” always really boils my piss. It’s up there with “thoughts and prayers” in the evasive BS of public life.
I apologise is the same as I am sorry, isn’t it? If you don’t have the second part who knows what you’re apologising for. Sorry, sorry for 😉
It’s the difference between “I am sorry if you found {thing I said/did} upsetting” and “I am sorry for {thing}, I should not have {said/done} it, and I apologise for {saying/doing} it”.
See also: Johnson, B. : “I am sorry that we got caught having parties during lockdown”, or thereabouts.
Sorry is an adjective describing how you personally fell about something. Apologise is a noun describing the activity you are undertaking. You can apologise without having any sorrow for what you did.
I’ll take this as the definitive answer 👏
Save for the fell instead of feel.
Absolutely, Mrs F is bang on. ‘any offence caused’ is the same as ‘any inconvenience caused’, ie there’s a possibility that you may not, in fact, be offended or inconvenienced, but if you are they’re ’sorry’. Weasel words.
Why not just replace him with Si King, the remaining Hairy Biker. Job done.
I’m off to the bookies….
Marcus Wareing or Monica Galetti could easily move to the non professional version if they have the time and inclination
Of course! That’s inspired JJ. If anyone has ever found Si King less than delightful and considerate to work with, the ravens really will have left the Tower of London.
He’s a boorish overpaid oaf, with an inflated sense of his own talent, who represents those who ‘say it like it is’ and bewail the ‘woke, PC culture’ ruining everything for entitled middle aged white men. Yes, he’ll have his own cookery show on GBeebies in due course, with lovely lady assistants for him to chase around the cooker and fixedly smile as he trots out one sidesplitting innuendo after another.
Started out as a barrowboy greengrocer. Maybe “cor what a nice pear” works in Covent Garden but maybe not elsewhere
Apparently a huge Frank Zappa fan
You can’t do that on stage anymore, Gregg.
@fentonsteve *up arrow*
Oh, well played!
Is this true? Evidence?
Probably just a joke that he would appreciate Zappa’s puerile “humour”
Gregg’s chalk board on the fruit box out front: “Son of Mister Greengage’s”.
sic apostrophe.
Tough crowd, AWers these days. The internet equivalent of the Glasgow Hippodrome
The man’s career, and abilities, can be summed up by the phrase ‘shouting and pointing’….
see also: Nigel Farrago, Elon Rusk, Donal Crump, Tommy Yaxley-Robinson et al.
I saw Dave Gorman last year and GregG Wallace and his TV show, ‘Inside the Factory’, featured heavily in the second part of the show with Wallace introducing Part 2 on screen; Gorman compares Wallace to a six-year-old boy in a man’s body because of the inane comments he makes during his TV show. He also ridicules the metaphors Wallace uses and questions the reasoning behind him wearing a hairnet over his bald head in the show.
Wonder if this will get shown or a dvd made now?
Hopefully it will.
Millwall thug, born in (don’t laugh – I laughed once, but I think I got away with it) 1964. Bless.
You’ll forgive me for not liking him.
I was also born in 1964. What does that make me, other than 60 years old?
A “dodger” presumably. No, me neither….
I think the answer is don’t respond to trolls, it validates their existence.
Last year of the Boomers. We’re the bad guys, but only just
Wallace used to be on a Radio 4 afternoon programme called ‘Veg Talk’, with a veg salesman called Charlie Hicks.
It was as limp as a limp piece of veg that was on holiday in Limpley Stoke.
And from those humble beginnings he embarked on a career of Vag Talk with women he didn’t know and had only just met.
And it was no longer limp.
I was more annoyed that these people actually believe we(me) have any interest in their tedious workplace grievances. ITV led with this. Sometime later; that Martial Law had been declared in South Korea. Someone in that newsroom needs to get a grip.
I feel the same. Do we need to hear every day about some new allegation? He’s obviously finished on TV, and what difference will any more allegations make at this point?
If somebody has a complaint about him, let them make it to the proper authorities, whoever they might be, rather than spelling it all out in a tweet or on the news. The world seems to be going to hell (South Korea, France in a state, the awful worsening cruelty of the Taliban, Trump about to turn the USA into a dystopia, etc.), yet the main news shows are spending time detailing every tawdry, childish thing GW has allegedly done.
I’ve never rated him, and have managed to live my whole life without watching one of his shows all the way through, but from the amount of coverage he’s getting you’d think he was an unmissable TV legend, rather than a bloke who watches some people cook and then eats a few mouthfuls of food.
If I was a TV reporter covering one of the world’s many troublespots, I’d be wondering what has to happen to shift GW down/off the newslist.
Many of them did complain, and nothing happened. It’s the publicity that puts a stop to it. It’s not that much to afford those experiencing abuse.
I am a Masterchef addict. I have no particular affection for him, but he comes across as being excellent at what he does, (co-) presenting a TV show. I have read that he is particularly good at putting contestants at ease who are not used to being in front of cameras. I suppose it is his methods for doing this that are now seen to be crass and dubious.
So a woman working for him who objects to being asked if she’d be willing to lick his arsehole is airing a “tedious workplace grievance”? Really?
It’s a grievance that wouldn’t make the national news in any other workplace. And it points to a self absorbtion among these workers, that they believe their working environment is of preeminent importance.
Interesting take on where the self absorption sits here.
Some interesting comments in the first part of this “The Rest Is Entertainment” YT clip with Marina Hyde & Richard Osman.
GW’s griping about “Middle-class women of a certain age” is particularly ill-advised when you consider how many of them are the target audience of his shows.
Certain people are griping about such women being “snowflakes”. Have to agree with Hyde & Osman that they are generally hard as nails, in fact.
p.s. Maybe it’s just me but isn’t Marina Hyde’s fashion sense verging on the eccentric?
Well she’s an upper class woman of a certain age 😉
This talk of non-apologies makes me think of where this all started. As always, it’s Gary Barlow. In TT’s “Back for Good” he sings
“Whatever I did, whatever I said
I didn’t mean it “
And
“Whenever I’m wrong,
Just tell me the song and I will sing it.
You’ll be right and understood “
You can almost see the teetering pile of washing up around the sink as he decides it’s time to “apologise” and invite her to come back for good.
I am really hoping there’s a response song out there called “Fuck off, Gary!”
I’d be careful around Gary ‘Deirdre’ Barlow – remember – he’s got a fist of pure emotion.
Or was it ’emulsion’?
Robbie Williams called him “Clarence” after the cross-eyed lion in Daktari. This is remarkable because RW is at least 10 years younger than me and I only just about remember Daktari.
I won’t miss him on Masterchef.
He didn’t bring much to the table.
Turn him over, stick a fork in his ass, he’s done.
The world of pain he now inhabits will remain unleavened by presenting jobs on Bake Off
Wallace replaced by… are you sitting down, Gregg?… a woman.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr56v10v6yro
..of a certain age.
but with an accent though. So I am sure Gregg would approve. I’m still hoping Si King takes on the amateur competition role though.
They didn’t waste any time did they!?!
About 19 years…
Asking for a friend, is it no longer acceptable to like this track which originally came to my friend’s attention in a Word Mag email?
You should separate the art from the person.
..and anyway, The Art is really nothing much to do with the pair of them, it’s down to the person who painstakingly collated it.
Thank you. My friend will be relieved.