BBC presenter reaffirms allegations despite Wallace’s denial, as misconduct probe looms
Vanessa Feltz has stood by her explosive claims regarding Gregg Wallace’s alleged inappropriate conduct, doubling down in a new column amid growing scrutiny surrounding the former MasterChef host.
The veteran broadcaster, 63, made headlines in December when she revealed that a trusted male colleague had recounted a disturbing encounter with Wallace in a BBC lift. According to Feltz, Wallace allegedly described a graphic sexual act he had engaged in with his wife, speaking openly in front of a young female passenger who appeared visibly unsettled.
Wallace, 60, who stepped down from his role on MasterChef last year following a slew of misconduct allegations spanning 17 years, recently expressed his shock at Feltz’s public remarks. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, he said: “Vanessa Feltz really knocked me for six. She had a story from a friend of hers who said she’d overheard me saying something sexual in a lift. I’ve always got on well with Vanessa. I’ve been on her show. We even swapped messages on social media.”
He continued, questioning Feltz’s motivation: “I’m thinking, ‘Really, Vanessa, you’re weighing in with something someone else told you that I was supposed to have said in a lift? I thought you liked me.’”
But Feltz, writing for the Daily Express, has now responded with a robust defence of her original statement, clarifying that the account did not come from an anonymous or distant source, but from a former BBC colleague she has known and trusted for over 15 years.
“I wasn’t searching for a story about your conduct,” she wrote. “It found me organically. Making it public had nothing to do with me ‘not liking you’ at all.”
She identified the source of the allegation as a male BBC producer and former sportsman, who had been tasked with escorting Wallace from the foyer of Broadcasting House to a studio. According to Feltz, he directly experienced the alleged incident — not merely overheard it.
Feltz explained: “Gregg, it was a he, not a she. You probably remember him. He’s a sportsman. He didn’t ‘overhear’ it — you said it to him. In the lift, he suddenly described a graphic sexual act he said he had enjoyed with his girlfriend. There was a young woman in the lift. She looked shaken and I was pretty disgusted too.”
The Celebs Go Dating star was prompted to speak out after television presenter Kirstie Allsopp publicly claimed Wallace had also described a sex act in front of her during a separate incident. Feltz said her friend’s account mirrored Allsopp’s description almost exactly.
Wallace has categorically denied all allegations, with his legal team stating: “It is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.”
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The Standard has approached Wallace’s representative for additional comment.
Wallace, known for his ebullient television persona and long-running partnership with John Torode on MasterChef, left the series last year following misconduct allegations made by 13 individuals across several programmes. The allegations are said to span nearly two decades and involve a range of concerning behaviours.
The BBC has since launched an internal investigation into Wallace’s alleged conduct, with a full report expected to be made public next month.
As the situation unfolds, Feltz’s decision to double down may well intensify the debate around accountability in the broadcasting industry, particularly concerning the treatment of colleagues and the handling of sensitive allegations within large media organisations.
With Wallace’s public reputation hanging in the balance and the BBC’s report looming, the revelations underscore a broader cultural reckoning about workplace behaviour in British television.
