MasterChef star reveals she complained to show bosses after ‘uncomfortable’ conversations on set
MASTERCHEF star Shobna Gulati has revealed she complained to show bosses following ‘uncomfortable’ conversations on set.
Shobna, 58, who competed on the show’s Celebrity edition in 2009, claimed some interactions left her uneasy, prompting her to raise the issue with production company, Endemol Shine Group.
The actress, known for her roles in Coronation Street and Dinnerladies, shared her concerns on X this past Friday, in light of allegations made against judge Gregg Wallace, 69.
She told fans: “I actually wrote to Endemol Shine Group about my experiences on #Masterchef way back when which weren’t the best at the time – I wonder if they still have the correspondence?
“I did get replies as I talked about how uncomfortable I felt about the language around my culture and heritage.
“But as I recall I talked about the whole experience.”
Banijay, which now owns Endemol Shine Group, has been contacted for comment.
It follows a turbluent week for show frontman Gregg, who today said he’ll “take time out” during a probe into his alleged sexual comments on the programme.
Facing backlash after mounting a disastrous defence of his behaviour yesterday, the greengrocer apologised over his “middle-class women of a certain age” rant.
He said yesterday: “Now I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years. Amateur, Celebrity and Professional MasterChef.
“In that time I’ve worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds and all different walks of life.
“Now I’m reading in the paper that there have been 13 complaints in that time.
“I can see them coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right.
“Over 20 years of TV, can you imagine how many women on MasterChef have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo?”
But he has now posted an apology on his Instagram account – saying he was under a “huge amount of stress”.
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 space when I posted it. I’ve been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion.”
In the post this afternoon, he added: “I felt very alone and under siege yesterday when I posted it.
“It is obvious to me I need to take some time out while this investigation is underway.
“I hope you understand and I do hope you will accept this apology.”
Gregg stepped back from the BBC1 cooking show last week after complaints about inappropriate behaviour over a number of years.
It has emerged that the BBC was warned about his sexist behaviour at least five times over seven years.
BBC officials carried out an HR investigation in 2018 and spoke to the star multiple times about inappropriate comments.
Insiders told the Telegraph that the Beeb seeks to “manage risk” rather than deal with reported problems, leading to “monumental f***-ups”.
One said: “The priority is always to protect those most important to them.”
The BBC said: “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.”
A spokesperson added: “We will always support them when addressing them.
“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on anything that could form part of Banijay’s ongoing investigation or otherwise influence it.”
Celebrity MasterChef 2012 winner Emma Kennedy said she reported Wallace’s behaviour to a member of the production team but did not know if it was taken any further.
Georgia Harding, a MasterChef producer from 2014-15, said she raised concerns about his behaviour but nothing was done.
In 2017, radio broadcaster Aasmah Mir went on the celebrity version and sent an email to Kate Phillips, now head of unscripted TV for the BBC, about Wallace’s inappropriate comments.
In 2018, Wallace was reportedly issued with a formal warning by the BBC following an HR probe.
In 2022, director and producer Dawn Elrick said she sent a letter to the corporation with a number of anonymised accounts from people alleging Wallace acted inappropriately.
The Sun on Sunday told how a Nestlé executive had written to the BBC with concerns about Wallace’s behaviour while filming a 2023 episode of Inside The Factory.
‘ARROGANT’
Ulrika Jonsson led a furious backlash against Gregg yesterday after he mounted a disastrous defence of his behaviour.
Sun writer Ulrika called Wallace, 60, “ignorant and arrogant” after he posted a video blaming “middle-class women of a certain age” for complaining about him.
Other female celebrities stunned at Wallace’s extraordinary rant included JK Rowling and Kirstie Allsopp.
Location, Location, Location star Kirstie said he once left her mortified with a gross anecdote about a sex act.
His comments sparked an angry reaction from Ulrika, 57, who had previously accused Wallace of making a rape “joke” on the set of Celebrity MasterChef in 2017.
She said: “I am nothing short of seething. Somewhere in his misogynistic, thoughtless, ancient mind he felt it appropriate to tell the world this.
“Oh, Gregg. Your ignorance and arrogance knows no bounds. Firstly, you have no clue what ‘class’ of women it is that have made complaints about you.
“What we can ascertain is that they are a shed-load classier than you will ever be.
“Secondly, when you refer to women ‘of a certain age’ that is normally a reference to my generation.
“Generation X, the older ones, the ones who are supposed to have gone into old age quietly.
“And yet, the irony of this is that we are probably the hardiest bunch out there.
“We have been brought up on a diet of sexist, misogynistic, crude and sleazy comments and physical contact that was always surplus to requirements by the likes of Wallace, all our working lives.”
Ulrika claimed he reduced a female contestant to tears by saying her dish “looks like a rapist during foreplay”.
And she yesterday slammed the BBC for letting him stay on TV for so long.
She said: “However much the BBC considered this ‘cheeky chappy’ to be popular with the public because of his simplicity, it is just not good enough to brush off any complaints with the excuse that ‘it’s just how Gregg is’.”
Celebrity Masterchef Previous Winners
The previous Celebrity Masterchef winners so far in the show
2023 – Singer Wynne Evans
2022 – Radio Presenter Lisa Snowdon
2021 – Gold-medal-winning Paralympian Kadeena Cox
2020 – YouTube star Riyadh Khalaf
2019 – Olympian Greg Rutherford
2018 – Actor John Partridge
2017 – Television presenter Angellica Bell
2016 – Real Hustle star Alexis Conran
2015 – Pussycat doll Kimberly Wyatt
2014 – Actress Sophie Thompson
2013 – Comedian and actor Ade Edmondson
2012 – Actress Emma Kennedy
2011 – Former England rugby captain Phil Vickery
2010 – Actress and presenter Lisa Faulkner
2009 – Presenter Jayne Middlemiss
2008 – Singer and actress Liz McClarnon
2007 – Actress and presenter Nadia Sawalha
2006 – Rugby star Matt Dawson
‘PREDATORY AND LEWD’
It comes after MasterChef producers Banijay UK drafted in legal firm Lewis Silkin to investigate the allegations.
Wallace was also yesterday accused of further acts of inappropriate behaviour.
Kirstie posted: “Within 1hr of meeting Gregg Wallace he told me of a sex act that he & his partner at the time enjoyed ‘every morning’.
“She’d just left the room, we were filming a pilot. Did he get off on how embarrassed I was? It was totally unprofessional.
“I’m #MiddleClassWomanOfaCertainAge.”
She added later on Radio 4 that his video rant about the complainants’ class was “unacceptable”.
Kirstie said: “I absolutely understand about banter. I’m a mother of sons – two stepsons, two sons. But there’s a huge difference between robust chat and the kind of comment Gregg Wallace made to me.”
Times Radio host Aasmah Mir said she complained at the time about an inappropriate comment Wallace made on Celebrity MasterChef in 2017.
She posted: “I put my first dish down in front of the judges and the cameras paused to reset. In front of everyone, Gregg Wallace told me to tell a colleague at the BBC ‘that she was a sexy b****’. “No one said anything. And yes I did complain.”
Former Labour minister Baroness Harman wrote online: “It’s not that standards have changed. Women always felt creeped out by predatory, lewd men.
“It’s just that now women feel able to challenge. Older, middle-class women more able to challenge than freelance junior women. It’s our duty.”
Wallace was also widely mocked for his video attack, and advised to “listen” instead.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling posted: “If only his colleagues had all been young working-class women, ideally with little job security, none of this would have happened.”
Talk host Julia Hartley-Brewer added: “Spare a thought for Gregg Wallace’s PR agent waking up this morning,’ with a meme of Chandler from Friends shouting, ‘What did you just do?’”
Independent MP Rosie Duffield said his rant “suggests he has no understanding of the potential offence caused to colleagues who probably felt powerless to speak up”.
Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall told the BBC yesterday: “I understand the instinct when you feel you’re backed into a corner…but I don’t think it’s smart to come out talking like that…I think at the moment Wallace should probably be listening.”
SLEAZE CLAIMS
At least 13 people have officially complained about Wallace’s conduct while working with him over a 17-year period across five shows, from 2005 to 2022.
Wallace has been accused of taking his top off in front of a female worker, saying he wanted to “give her a fashion show”, and talking about his sex life to others.
He also allegedly told one female colleague he was not wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans.
Wallace has denied any behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
He is set to front two pre-recorded MasterChef specials for the BBC over the festive period, despite the investigation.
Wallace poses in a Christmas jumper alongside co-host John Torode for Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off and MasterChef Meets Strictly Festive Extravaganza.
The BBC promises “fireworks and great Christmas banter”.