Gregg Wallace has one opportunity left to salvage his career-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Gregg Wallace has a chance to salvage his career, it’s been claimed (Picture: BBC/Shine TV)

Gregg Wallace has one opportunity to salvage his career, after his grovelling apology for comments made over the MasterChef allegations, it’s been claimed.

The presenter, 60, has stepped back from the BBC programme while an investigation is underway, with several accusations having been made against him.

Wallace has been accused of making ‘inappropriate sexual jokes’ and lewd comments on set, asking for the phone numbers of female members of production staff, and undressing in front of and standing ‘too close’ to women working on his shows.

Further allegations claim he groped three people in different incidents, that he ‘mimicked sex acts’ and walked around the studio almost ‘completely naked’, with more than 13 people across a range of shows over a 17-year-period making complaints.

The likes of Ulrika Jonsson and Kirstie Allsopp have spoken out, with more stars stepping forward, and after Wallace – who has fiercely denied the allegations – faced further backlash for claiming they come from ‘middle-class women of a certain age’, he’s issued an apology.

Now, there may only be one way to salvage his career, with a bigger question remaining.

Andy Barr, Crisis Communications and Reputation Expert of Season One Communications, explained: ‘His apology shows he has finally listened to external advice.

‘The first thing any reputation specialist will have said is that he needs to take some time out from addressing every allegation that emerges and that is exactly what he has now said.

‘The real question now will be how the public reacts to him saying sorry and if the volume of accusations now begins to slow down.

‘Saying a heartfelt sorry is the first step in potentially salvaging his career.’

Wallace has stepped back from MasterChef amid an investigation (Picture: BBC/Shine TV)

However, amid the investigation, the apology risks being ‘pointless’, as Andy continued: ‘The apology could be pointless if the investigation in the allegations find him to be guilty.

‘In terms of giving him a very short amount of space so he can plan his next move, apologising and being quiet will undoubtedly work.’

This comes after Wallace’s initial statement was branded by Andy as ‘one of the most damaging’, showing ‘multiple issues’.

Before Wallace’s apology video, Andy said his comments revealed him to be ‘out of touch with modern society, has a complete disregard or his alleged victims and, is clearly getting zero professional communications advice or support’.

Wallace received immense backlash for stating the accusations came from ‘middle-class women of a certain age’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

He went on: ‘The traditional reputation management or crisis communication guidance would be to keep quiet until you know exactly what is happening and definitely don’t wade into social media with an ill-thought out series of comments before all the facts are out there.’

He added that the video, which could have spelled the ‘eventual end of Wallace’s career’, turned him into someone media companies would ‘not want to associate themselves with’, as a ‘wild canon who fires out media missives against their guidance’.

Wallace apologised for his comments after immense backlash, including from the likes of Sir Keir Starmer who called them ‘inappropriate and misogynistic’, yesterday, saying: ‘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 head space when I posted it.

‘I’ve been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion, I felt very alone, under siege when I posted it.

Wallace apologised for the initial video, saying he was ‘under a huge amount of stress’ Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

‘It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out now while this investigation is underway.

‘I hope you understand and I do hope that you will accept this apology.’

In the video on Sunday, he had said:  ‘I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years, amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef, and in that time, I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, different backgrounds, all walks of life.

‘Apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time.

‘In the newspaper, I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right.’

In a second video, he added: ‘In 20 years, over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks, or sexual innuendo, can you imagine?’

He then claimed ‘absolutely none’ of the people he had worked with on his shows had made a complaint about him in a third Instagram video.

Wallace and his lawyers have denied the allegations, saying ‘it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature’.

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