Christopher Biggins has spoken out in defence of Gregg Wallace following his axing from the BBC.
The MasterChef host was sacked earlier this year, with the Beeb vowing never to work with him again after several allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour were made.
After an investigation was carried out, 45 out of the 83 accusations against Wallace were upheld, with one including unwanted physical contact’, while co-presenter John Torode was also found to have used racist language, of which he claims to have no recollection.
Consequently, both hosts were let go, sending MasterChef’s latest series into carnage.
Now, in the aftermath of the scandal, fellow TV personality Biggins has reflected on his own past behaviour, admitting that some of it would likely ‘land him in prison’ today.
The 76-year-old pantomime star, who is gay, claims that 25 years ago, ‘everyone’ was doing things they shouldn’t.
He told The Sun: ‘Years ago, I would approach a woman from behind and grab her t***ies from the front. Well, I’m gay, so it didn’t matter. And I’d like to still be doing it, but I don’t think I can anymore.’
Biggins, who appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2014, added: ‘If I were to do that now, I’d be put into prison. 25 years ago, we were all doing it. It was a thing of affection.’
The I’m A Celebrity campmate proceeded to declare solidarity with Wallace, 60, who has been married to Anne-Marie Sterpini since 2016.
‘I love Gregg, and I love his wife. I’ve tried to get hold of her because they must be going through a terrible time, because suddenly careers are vanishing; it’s so wrong.’
Throughout his lengthy career in showbiz, Biggins has had his own fair share of controversies, most notably during his Celebrity Big Brother stint.
In 2016, he entered the house alongside the likes of Stephen Bear, Frankie Grande, James Whale, and Samantha Fox.
He was ultimately removed from the house, having received warnings on several occasions for offensive language.
The final incident involved Biggins calling AIDS a ‘bisexual disease’.
Upon his ejection, he said he was ‘very sorry and very sad’, but his £100,000 fee was reportedly still slashed.
These days, Biggins continues his theatre and comedy work and maintains an active social media presence.
As for Wallace, he has continued to pledge his innocence since the allegations against him surfaced, insisting that the most serious claims were unproven in the legal review.
The TV chef has also alleged that the BBC’s production team discriminated against him due to his autism, having been formally diagnosed only recently.
Friends of Wallace have also said that his ‘autistic hypersensitivity’ meant that he had an ‘oddity of filters and boundaries’, leading to his ‘inability to wear underwear’.
Such statements have repeatedly been shot down by autistic charities and campaigners, with a spokesperson for the National Autistic Society telling Metro last month: ‘Every autistic person is different, just like every non-autistic person is different, so it is important not to generalise or make judgements based on the actions, words, or behaviour of any one individual.’
The latest series of MasterChef, which was recorded before the scandals emerged, is currently on air but has been dealt a huge blow in loss of viewers due to Wallace and Torode, 59, hosting.
Just under two million people tuned in to the first episode, which is a significant drop from last year’s premiere, which saw 2.7m watch overnight.
It remains to be seen whether the Torode Celebrity MasterChef series, alongside Grace Dent, or the two festival specials he is set to feature in, will still be released.
The BBC has yet to announce who will be replacing Wallace and Torode, who have fronted the cooking programme since 2005.
Currently, the favourites are Saturday Kitchen’s Matt Tebbutt and Great British Menu’s Andi Oliver.
A timeline of allegations against Gregg Wallace
2005 to 2011
A report by law firm Lewis Silkin found there were 27 substantiated claims against Wallace relating to alleged incidents during this period, most of which related to sexually explicit comments.
One allegation of unwanted physical contact during this timeframe was also substantiated.
The report found that when concerns were reported to the production company during this period, there was a failure to retain records of any action taken.
2012 to 2018
The report found that 17 upheld allegations relate to this period.
In 2015, the production company behind MasterChef investigated an allegation about Wallace’s behaviour, but he was not made aware of the complaint.
The following year, the production company merged with Endemol, and more formal policies, regular training, and anonymous reporting lines were introduced.
The BBC intervened in response to a complaint in 2017, following which Wallace was warned of the need to change his behaviour.
2019 to 2024
One substantiated complaint about an inappropriate comment fell into this period.
November 2024
Wallace faced allegations of inappropriate sexual comments from 13 people across a range of shows over 17 years, BBC News reported.
The TV star stepped away from presenting MasterChef while Banijay, the show’s production company, announced that it was conducting an external review to ‘fully and impartially investigate’ the claims.
BBC News said allegations include the presenter ‘talking openly about his sex life, taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to “give her a fashion show”, and telling a junior female colleague he was not wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans’.
The charity Ambitious About Autism said it had dropped Wallace as an ambassador, citing the ‘recent allegations’.
Banijay UK confirmed it appointed law firm Lewis Silkin to lead the investigation into Wallace’s alleged behaviour.
December 2024
Wallace said in a video posted to Instagram that accusations about him making sexual comments towards staff and guests have come from ‘middle-class women of a certain age’.
Downing Street said Wallace’s response to the accusations being made against him was ‘inappropriate and misogynistic’.
A spokesperson added that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had held talks with BBC bosses in the wake of the Wallace row.
Following the backlash, Wallace apologised for any ‘offence’ or ‘upset’ he caused with his remarks and said he would ‘take some time out’.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said politicians should be ready to put in place ‘mechanisms’ that would instil ‘confidence’ that women will be taken seriously in reports of inappropriate behaviour after a Labour MP asked him about ‘women of a certain age’, reflecting comments Wallace apologised for.
MasterChef co-presenter John Torode said in a social media post that he ‘loves being part of’ the programme and ‘will continue to be a part of it’.
April 2025
Wallace told the Daily Mail he ‘thought about suicide all the time’ after allegations of misconduct were made against him.
July 8-9, 2025
Wallace was sacked as MasterChef presenter following the inquiry into his alleged misconduct by production company Banijay.
BBC News said it had not seen the final review from Banijay but understood the presenter had been sacked.
In an Instagram post, the former greengrocer claimed he had been cleared of the ‘most serious and sensational accusations’ ahead of the published review.
He also said he recognised that some of his humour and language were inappropriate ‘at times’ and apologised for this.
July 14, 2025
The report by law firm Lewis Silkin for Banijay is published.
It says that a total of 45 out of the 83 allegations made against Wallace during his time on the show were substantiated, including one allegation of ‘unwelcome physical contact’.
It concludes that the ‘majority of the substantiated allegations against Mr Wallace related to inappropriate sexual language and humour’, adding that ‘a smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated’.
In the wake of the report’s findings, Banijay say that ‘Wallace’s return to MasterChef (is) untenable’.
