Gregg Wallace investigated by Channel 5 over new allegations

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1. Gregg Wallace is facing a second misconduct investigation after further allegations emerged about his alleged sexist, lewd and racist behaviour on television productions.

   The *MasterChef* host “stepped away” from the programme on Thursday after at least 20 people came forward with claims about his repeated use of sexually inappropriate language.

   Wallace, who has been a constant fixture on the BBC for almost two decades, was the subject of a complaint in 2017 after making a joke about rape while filming *Celebrity MasterChef*.

   He was further scrutinised in 2018 for allegedly making “inappropriate sexualcomments” to a female worker on the programme *Impossible Celebrities*.

   After an initial investigation into Wallace concerning *MasterChef* was announced on Thursday, Channel 5 began an investigation of claims that he subjected a colleague to constant “lesbian jokes”.

   A woman said that while making the programme *Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends*in 2019, he became “fascinated” by her relationships with women and wanted to know the “logistics” of how she dated.

   Another woman told BBC News that while working on the Channel 5 programme at the same time Wallace’s conversation often revolved around sex, including spanking and domination. 

   Channel 5 said that it took the allegations “extremely seriously” and that the production company Rumpus was looking into the claims. Rumpus said: “We do not tolerate inappropriate behaviour on our productions.”

   A former *MasterChef* contestant from 2008 revealed on Friday that she had made a complaint about Wallace at the time, concerning alleged sexual harassment and making racist comments.

   Dr Kate Tomas, a philosopher, described how Wallace stared at her chest when she went red with anxiety while presenting a dish.

   “There was a continuous and consistent environment of sexual innuendo, double entendre, continuous sort of low level and to some extent … explicit engagement with women through their bodies,” she told Times Radio.

   Tomas, who was married to an Indian man at the time and wore a sindoor, alleged that Wallace made a comment about this on every day of filming and on another occasion mocked an Indian accent while being filmed by a British Asian member of the crew.

   “The atmosphere the whole time was extremely tense,” she said. Wallace’s representatives did not respond to the claims.

2. This may be a silly questions but what does “investigated” actually mean in these contexts?

   I understand a police investigation but you often see headlines like: “xyz suspended as BBC launch investigation” or “Manchester United are investigating allegations of …”.

   What are they actually doing?

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