Nadia Sawalha has spoken out on Masterchef star Gregg Wallace (Image: undefined)
TV personality and former champion, , has criticised for his ‘horrifying’ response to allegations made against him. The panel member, who triumphed in the celebrity edition of in 2007, stated that while she had no negative experiences with Gregg on the show, she was left ‘horrified’ by his reaction to the recent accusations on his story.
This follows last week’s revelation that , with Newsnight’s Kirsty Wark among the 13 individuals accusing the MasterChef star of inappropriate behaviour. Gregg has since stepped back from the hit show and addressed the claims on , issuing an apology and stating the complaints came from.
He has also announced he will ‘take some time out’. Nadia, also 60, voiced her opinion on her YouTube channel which she runs with her husband Mark Adderley.
“When I saw his stories at the weekend, to be quite frank, I was horrified by what he said,” she expressed.
“I wasn’t… not surprised. I’d just never seen that or heard that myself. But I’m never surprised when I hear stories…” she shared her take on the allegations, and emphatically stated, “I’m 100%… I always believe – and maybe that’s wrong of me – I believe women first. You know, I don’t care, I just do.”, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Craig Revel Horwood, Emma Forbes, Midge Ure and Nadia Sawalha were in the final of Celeb Masterchef (Image: Des Willie)
Chiming in with a jest about one of Gregg’s social media updates, Mark quipped, “But my God, he’s gone for middle-aged, middle class women! ” In response, Nadia articulated a powerful stance: “First and foremost, you get to an age where you think, do you know what? I don’t have to take this s**t anymore. You get to a position where you realise you don’t have to laugh at jokes that leave you feeling uncomfortable. You don’t have to just pretend something didn’t happen just to keep the peace.”
She further reflected on the perception of older men by younger women, stating candidly, “And actually, Gregg, what I feel sad about, is that he has no idea how those younger women actually feel… I’m sorry to say, men of this age, you’ve got no idea what we are thinking about you really.”
She acknowledged the legal principle stating, “Because I know the way the world is tipped. But, in a court of law you are innocent until proven guilty… but with these numbers..”
Meanwhile, Mark recollected his encounters with Gregg, describing him as “incredibly agreeable, very professional, just got on with it.”
He recalled the lighthearted side, “You know, he had that sort of geezer chat and that geezer humour, but there was nothing untoward in anything that he said to me…” Reflecting on the revelations, he noted that both he and Nadia “Hadn’t heard anything about him” prior to the scandal breaking last week.
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“You’ve got no idea. You think that you’re striding through life and everybody thinks you are rather nice. Well guess what? Most of them are going home going ‘Oh God that guy! I just can’t take one more of those jokes. I just can’t take one more of him just standing a bit too close.’
“We have two daughters, 21 and 17 and when they come home after having to put up with lewd comments and creepiness in clubs, it’s always people, men of a certain age and it’s THAT age! ” Gregg, embroiled in a controversy over alleged inappropriate sexual jokes, took to stories on Monday expressing remorse: “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.”
He added: “I wasn’t in a good headspace 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 will accept this apology.”