Arlene Phillips, 81, weighs in on Gregg Wallace fiasco

Arlene Phillips weighed in on the Gregg Wallace fiasco as she made an appearance at The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical premiere on Sunday night. 

The former Strictly judge and choreographer, 81, appeared on Celebrity MasterChef back in 2015 and has given her say on the 60-year-old who has now stepped down from the show after he was accused of sexist and inappropriate behaviour.

A total of 13 people, including Kirsty Wark, have complained about Wallace's conduct while working with him over a 17-year period across five shows, from 2005 to 2022.

Taking to Instagram on Sunday morning, Wallace said he has worked with people of 'all different ages, all different backgrounds and all different walks of life'.

Speaking about the complaints against him, he said they are 'coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age' and declared 'this isn't right'.

Reacting to the revelations Arlene told MailOnline at the theatre event that while Gregg was 'lovely' towards her on the show she didn't like his use of the phrase 'middle-class women of a certain age'.

She said: 'I was in and out of the show because I was so hopeless, Gregg was really lovely to me as I think he liked the hopeless and helpless ones on the show so I didn't have any problem.

'Although I'm more than middle aged - I'm old, but I still don't like the reference to 'middle aged' women that came out today. 

'We women stand on our feet whatever the result is and we have to be respected - in middle age of old age. Don't moan at us. Respect all women.'

On Sunday Gregg was mocked on social media after he blamed 'middle class women of a certain age' for his current woes.

Social media users were quick rebuke the Masterchef star for 'digging his own grave' and 'doubling down' by blaming a handful of women for his current situation.

Some said he has 'done himself no favours' and 'made things worse' for himself by taking aim at the 13 women who have made a complaint, while others accused him of a 'blatantly misogynistic response' to complaints about his allegedly sexist behaviour.

Many people took to 'X', formerly known as Twitter, to make fun of his post as they joked about his lawyers and PR firm's reaction to the video.

One post read: 'Whichever PR firm advised Gregg Wallace to take on 'middle-class women of a certain age' clearly hate him as well.'

Another featured a meme of Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation hammering his mobile phone with the caption: 'Gregg Wallace's lawyers driving to his house right now to remove his phone and laptop.'

Radio presenter Julie Hartley-Brewer wrote: '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?'

Comedian David Baddiel joked: 'It's not often that the internet gets behind middle-class, middle-aged women these days, but thanks to Gregg Wallace for making it happen.'

One social media user said: 'Tell me you're a misogynist without telling me you're a misogynist: a middle-class, middle-aged man suggests 13 people's allegations of his sexually inappropriate conduct lack merit because they were made by middle-class middle-aged women.'

Another added: 'I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age,' says Gregg Wallace in a video he has posted online this morning. Nothing says 'I'm not a misogynist' like stereotyping women. Great work Gregg, tell us who you are again.'

'How not to disprove that you're a misogynist', said another.

It comes after it emerged on Saturday night that the BBC was reportedly warned about his alarming behaviour in 2008 but 'nothing was done'.

Former MasterChef contestant Dr Kate Tomas, 42, said she complained about Wallace's treatment of her on the show 16 years ago, claiming he 'sexually harassed' and 'bullied' her.

Dr Tomas, a spiritual mentor to the stars, slammed him as 'disgusting and repulsive'.

Four-times married Wallace has stepped back as a judge while show chiefs investigate claims from 13 people including Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, 69.

Wark, who competed in Celebrity MasterChef in 2011, claimed Wallace told stories and jokes of a 'sexualised nature' in front of contestants and the show's crew.

A former staff member told the BBC that Wallace showed her topless pictures of himself and begged her for massages, while a lesbian ex-staff member of the Channel 5 show Gregg Wallace's Big Weekends said he pressed her on the logistics of dating women.

Other ex-colleagues complained Wallace would talk openly about his sex life, with one male worker on Big Weekends alleging boasts about having threesomes with sex workers and alleging he 'loves spanking' several times a day.

A junior female staffer on the BBC's Eat Well for Less? claimed Wallace told her in 2019 that he wasn't wearing any boxer shorts.

MasterChef's producer Banijay UK drafted in top City law firm Lewis Silkin to investigate allegations against Wallace.

Speaking on his Instagram story this morning, Wallace said: 'Now I've been doing MasterChef for 20 years. Amateur, Celebrity and MasterChef.

'In that time I've worked with 40,000 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?'

Responding to Wallace's post, Dorothy Byrne, the former head of news at Channel 4 told Sky: 'He says that they are women of a certain age, he is a man of a certain age - the age where dinosaurs roamed this earth. 

'Does he think that young women and working class women and even very rich women want to hear rape jokes? Want to be quizzed in smutty detail about lesbian sex. 

'Does he think those young women want to have their breast stared at and hear about his sex life. No. No women want to hear that and may I say men don't want to hear that either.'

He then posted a screenshot of a comment from Lisa Addison, who was a contestant on MasterChef in 2022.

The comment read: 'Filmed with Greg two years ago. An absolute gentleman. The woke will not stop until they get what they want!'

Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall appeared on the BBC and said Wallace making these comments is 'not wise'.

He said he doesn't know the fallen star well having met him only a few times, but called him 'likeable and professional'.

The chef said Wallace has a 'bawdy sense of humour' which has 'clearly offended' people because people haven't felt able to tell him to 'rein it in'.

He said: 'I don't think it's smart to come out talking like that when at the moment he should probably be listening.'

Kirstie Allsopp today claimed Gregg Wallace bragged about 'performing a sex act with his partner' within one hour of meeting her.

The Location, Location, Location star took to X, formerly known as Twitter, today to speak out about the allegations.

Using the hashtag #MiddleClassWomanOfaCertainAge, Allsopp said: 'Within one hour of meeting Gregg Wallace he told me of a sex act that he and 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.'

Allsopp received some backlash in the comments, with some social media users defending Wallace, while others questioned why she didn't speak up at the time.

Responding, Allsopp wrote: 'Do you think this all a bit unfair on Gregg? If so find your wife/GF/sister/mum and ask if they think it's OK for you/their partner to make a comment about your bedroom activities to a woman you/they have just met at work.'

It came as internal emails from 2017 show the BBC was warned of Wallace's alleged sexually inappropriate behaviour.

Emails by broadcaster Aasmah Mir were forwarded at the time to Kate Phillips, who now oversees unscripted programmes for the BBC. Phillips reportedly said she would ensure she was 'informed straight away' if further allegations were made.

According to The Times, Mir wrote in the email: 'Should anything happen in the future, I don't want to feel guilty when people say, 'Why wasn't anything said before?', or for producers or editors to claim they didn't know.'

What has Gregg Wallace been accused of? 

13 people who have told the BBC of what they consider inappropriate sexual comments made by Wallace across a range of shows over a 17-year period. 

Some of those who have spoken out include:

Kirsty Wark

She says that Gregg would allegedly openly talk about his sex life on set 

Other claims include: 

• Taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to 'give her a fashion show'
• Telling a junior female colleague he was not wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans'
• Allegedly entering the studio naked with his genitals covered with a sock and doing a 'silly dance'
• Mimicking a sex act close to a member of production staff
• He told 'disgusting sex-related jokes', including one while tasting a contestant's unusual dish
• She says that on two occasions Wallace relayed stories and jokes of a 'sexualised nature' in front of contestants on Celebrity MasterChef and crew and that she felt they were 'really, really in the wrong place'.

Dawn Elrick

The Director and producer said she sent a letter to the BBC in 2022 with a number of anonymous accounts from people who alleged they 'have experienced sexism within the TV industry'.

She says these included claims that Wallace was allegedly making lewd comments and asking for personal phone numbers of female production staff.

Aasmah Mir

Mir said Wallace allegedly made inappropriate comments during the filming of MasterChef.

She said he asked her to tell a colleague at the BBC that she was a 'sexy b****' and said he told a fellow contestant she was 'handling fish like a rapist'.

Kirstie Allsopp

She said she was left embarrassed a few years ago after Wallace 'made a reference to something [he and his partner] did in bed'.

Emma Kennedy

The actress who won Celebrity MasterChef in 2012 says she complained about his behaviour at the time.

She said 'it doesn't matter what the age of any woman is'.

Sir Rod Stewart 

Stewart suggested Wallace had 'humiliated' his wife Penny Lancaster when she was on MasterChef.