MasterChef champion Alex Web has opened up on the sweet gesture former co-host Gregg Wallace made towards his dying father while he was on the cooking show
A MasterChef: The Professionals champ has revealed Gregg Wallace showed his “true colours” in a gesture.
Alex Webb has recalled a poignant moment when Gregg Wallace offered his dying father a heartwarming Christmas message amidst his MasterChef journey. The 2020 winner praised Gregg’s kindness, choosing to sidestep discussions on recent controversies. He said: “I don’t really want to comment on it [the furore], but I can only speak from personal experience and my dad passed away just after the show, so luckily he got to watch the show.”
Alex, whose father Phillip sadly died from lung cancer in 2022 at the age of 61, added: “But Greg did a lovely message for him, and he sent it to him at Christmas time. So having Christmas, and dad was in hospital, and so things like that, he did a lovely message, and I’ll never forget that. And he [his dad] said, ‘Thank you so much, make sure you thank him’. So he was really lovely for that,” Alex fondly recalled, reports the Express.
Following Gregg’s departure from his judging role amid investigations over “inappropriate behaviour” – claims he has strenuously denied, food critic Grace Dent has been named as his successor. And Alex, already familiar with I’m A Celebrity star Grace from his own season, is confident she will be great. He said: “Grace Dent is obviously the new judge and she was actually on my series, and she was really great. So I’m sure she’ll do really well.”
Alex sweetly admitted that his goal for appearing on the show was not to clinch the top spot but rather to be among the final three: “I went there to kind of have fun and compete, and I never thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to win this’. My thing was I wanted to get to the final three so then the cameras would come back to my mum and dad’s house. That was my, that was my kind of thing,” he said with a smile. Since claiming victory, Alex’s career trajectory has been on a meteoric rise.
Now working towards opening his own restaurant, Alex already boasts a roster of private clients, enjoys an annual gig in the Maldives, and has even released his own cider, dubbed Alex Webb Signature Blend. He is also reuniting with his fellow 2020 finalists to celebrate the show’s 35th anniversary, by hosting a pop-up restaurant event on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd February.
The Fantastic Five Supper Club will feature at Cinnamon Kitchen City and see him team up with culinary stars Santosh Shah, Philli Armitage-Mattin, Bart Van der Lee and Vivek Singh. Sharing insights into their camaraderie post-show, he revealed: “We’ve kept in contact and we get on really well.”