Gregg Wallace has hit back at a "handful" of misconduct allegations from "middle-class women of a certain age".
Gregg Wallace has lashed out at his accusers
The 'MasterChef' presenter stepped back from hosting the BBC cookery show earlier this week amid allegations of inappropriate sexual comments and inappropriate behaviour but he has taken to Instagram to defend himself by stating that there have been "13 complaints" from "over 4,000 contestants" during his 20 years on the programme.
Wallace, 60, said in an Instagram video: "I've been doing 'MasterChef' for over 20 years - amateur, professional and 'Celebrity MasterChef' - and I think in that time I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life.
"And apparently now, I'm reading in the paper, there's been 13 complaints in that time.
"Now, in the newspaper I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class woman of a certain age just from 'Celebrity MasterChef'. This isn't right."
He added: "In over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on 'MasterChef', have made sexual remarks or innuendo - can you imagine?"
Wallace stepped back from 'MasterChef' earlier this week after a BBC News investigation revealed that 13 people across a range of ages and shows had accessed him of misconduct - including former 'Newsnight' presenter Kirsty Wark, who appeared on 'Celebrity MasterChef' in 2011.
The 69-year-old broadcaster told the BBC: "There were two occasions in particular where he used sexualised language in front of a number of people and it wasn’t as if anyone engaged with this.
"It was completely one-way traffic. But I think people were uncomfortable and [it was] something that I really did not expect to happen."
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