Gregg Wallace: Newsnight host Kirsty Wark among 13 people who complained to BBC about Masterchef judge's behaviour

It was announced earlier today (November 28) that Wallace had stepped back from his Masterchef role after the BBC launched an investigation into the complaints they had received about alleged inappropriate comments. BBC News said that it had sent a letter to Wallace’s representatives detailing complaints made by 13 separate people who had worked with the TV star over a 17-year period.

Kirsty Wark, who has presented Newsnight since 1993, is among the complainants, telling BBC News that Wallace told “sexualised” jokes during her time filming for Celebrity Masterchef in 2011. She said: “There were two occasions in particular where he used sexualised language in front of a number of people. And it wasn’t as if anyone engaged with this, it was completely one way traffic.

“I think people were uncomfortable, and [it was] something I really did not expect to happen.”

Banijay UK, the production company which produces Masterchef, confirmed that Wallace was stepping back from the show amid the investigation. The production company said in a statement: “This week the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with presenter Gregg Wallace on one of our shows. Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate.

“While this review is under way, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully co-operating throughout the process. Banijay UK’s duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set.

The BBC added: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them. We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated. Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them.”

According to BBC News, Wallace’s lawyers have denied that the TV star had made comments that could be construed as sexually harassing in nature.