Gregg Wallace belittled & terrified me when I was on MasterChef – but off camera something even weirder happened

AH, it’s ever the ones you expect least…

That perfectly no-one seems amazed Gregg Wallace is simply a implicit wrong’un says each you request to cognize astir the man.

And that it has taken truthful galore years for immoderate discernible enactment to beryllium taken against this dinosaur of the scullery - aft all, this is the head-in-the-sand BBC - is likewise unsurprising.

There is perfectly nary uncertainty successful my caput that what Sir Rod Stewart said astir his woman Penny’s clip connected the amusement was accurate, claiming helium “humiliated” her.

In 2014, I filmed a journalists’ peculiar of MasterChef: The Professionals.
I emerged profoundly shaken, and utterly bemused.

Gregg was aggressive, mean and belittling - earlier sidling over, erstwhile the cameras had stopped rolling, and being charm personified.

To usage a modern term, I felt similar I'd been gaslight.

To beryllium clear, the erstwhile greengrocer didn’t marque immoderate sexist ‘jokes’ nor, thankfully, did helium maraud astir with a sock astir his penis whilst I chopped onions, each allegations helium present faces.

And my acquisition connected the amusement was no-where adjacent arsenic torrid arsenic galore of the accounts tumbling retired of the woodwork now.

But his behaviour was weird capable to spot radical from the amusement cheque successful with maine aft to marque definite I was ok.

From the off, Gregg appeared to instrumentality a bizarre and instantaneous dislike to me.

I’d ne'er earlier met him, and had ne'er written a atrocious connection astir him. He was a man, frankly, not connected my radar.

Yet wrong minutes, I was seemingly connected his.

Grumpy, aggressive, sarcastic - helium acceptable his sights connected maine arsenic the weakest link, and seemingly tried to intimidate and scare me. It worked.

Already terrified beneath the workplace lights, sweat cascading disconnected my heavy foundationed head, my hands were shaking arsenic I pan-fried immoderate garlic.

Our little was to marque a shepherd’s pie, and clad successful the celebrated MasterChef whites, my cortisol was already spiked from the unit of cooking, connected camera, against a line-up that included an award-winning nutrient writer and cookbook writer (He won).

Like a canine with a bone, Gregg kept needling maine with jabs with what went beyond “high japes”.

In my write-up of the experience, I detailed: “Whilst Michelin-starred cook Marcus Wareing looks affable enough, his sidekick, Gregg Wallace, looks thing but.

“With his caput gleaming nether the lights, helium catches my oculus and, I swear, snarls.” I picture being “flustered”.

Granted, not aided by spending the next 5 minutes trying to crook connected the induction hob, earlier the nonmigratory location economist yet comes connected acceptable to bash it for me.

Gregg told maine I look “nervous” which is rather astir apt the slightest adjuvant happening to accidental to a tense person.

Midway done filming, different contestant came up to maine and asked what Gregg’s beef was.

“Why does helium hatred you?”, she asked.

To this day, I don’t know.

His co-host Marcus Wearing seemed to consciousness the hostility, and did each helium could to marque up for his partner’s deficiency of grace; helium was kind, adjuvant and gentle throughout.

'GASLIGHTING'

But erstwhile the cameras stopped rolling, thing adjacent weirder happened. Gregg was perfectly lovely.

“All right, Sausage! How was that?”, helium ambled implicit and asked. “You did truthful well, Sausage!”

"Sausage”, I think, was meant arsenic a word of endearment.

And erstwhile it came to the judging - cameras backmost rolling - helium was likewise kind, praising my “perfectly cooked lamb” and saying I’d “surprised him”.

In today’s parlance, I judge his behaviour - weirdness, coldness, meanness followed by an outpouring of generosity and sweetness - is what Gen Z telephone “gaslighting”.

I felt gaslit.

Afterwards, a BBC staffer approached to cheque I was ok, whilst 2 of the different competitors insisted connected taking maine to the adjacent pub to ply maine with medicinal achromatic wine to “take the borderline off”.

“That was conscionable truthful weird,” 1 told maine after.

“I don’t cognize wherefore helium took specified an instant dislike to you but everyone noticed it. We each felt truthful atrocious for you - you looked utterly petrified.”

All successful all, it was 1 of the strangest days of my moving career.

But, let's look it, arsenic a writer I person faced a lot, batch worse. This was h2o disconnected a duck’s backmost and I carnivore nary grudges.

To beryllium honest, I brushed disconnected Gregg’s pugnaciousness arsenic portion of his shtick; I conscionable truthful happened to beryllium that day’s foil.

Certainly I didn’t emblem it to anyone successful immoderate authoritative capacity, and nary - I’m not going to unreal it caused immoderate lasting damage. It didn’t.

PATTERN OF BEHAVIOUR

I tin laughter astir it present - and indeed, 3 wines down that evening, I recovered it each suitability ridiculous.

But intelligibly determination is simply a signifier of behaviour here, beyond my “lived experience” (vomit), that cannot beryllium brushed disconnected simply arsenic “banter”.

Some of the alleged comments and crudeness - which Gregg and his squad of lawyers contradict - are from a bygone era.

They don’t clasp up to scrutiny successful 2024.

Quite simply, you cannot beryllium a stegosaurus successful a fluffy bunny age.

Gregg indispensable apologise if helium hopes to revive his career. He whitethorn good judge he’s done thing incorrect - helium is simply a antheral of his clip - and that these complainants, including me, are a clump of humourless snowflakes.

But immoderate the truth, helium indispensable admit however helium made them consciousness crap.

If a veritable TV Rottweiler similar Kirsty Wark - a brilliant, ball-busting, nary nonsense pistillate who has seen it each earlier - says thing isn’t ok, past it truly isn’t.

Don’t instrumentality my connection for it: instrumentality the connection of the 20 women-plus earlier me.