MasterChef stars John Torode and Gregg Wallace may have worked together for nearly twenty years – but they know very little about one another’s lives
John Torode has previously said he and fellow MasterChef host Gregg Wallace have “never been friends”.
Despite presenting the hugely popular BBC1 programme with the former market trader since 2005, Torode does his best to avoid his colleague when the cameras stop rolling. After it emerged that Wallace, 60, will no longer host MasterChef – for now – amid an investigation into historical allegations of misconduct going back to 2005, Torde has remained silent.
It’s claimed Wallace wandered naked into the studio with a sock pulled over his privates, among a number of other acts. However, him and his lawyers vehemently deny the allegations.
After working alongside Wallace for almost twenty years, it has been claimed that all along, behind-the-scenes on Masterchef, there was huge tension between the two co-hosts. Here we take a look at all the telling signs that suggest the pair were never that close
Ignoring the drama
It comes after John ignored the drama surrounding his colleague Gregg Wallace when it broke on Thursday. Hours after the news broke that Wallace was stepping down from the long-running BBC cooking show following allegations of inappropriate behaviour over a 17-year period, his co-host was snapping photos of himself in the gym after a sweaty spin class.
Instead of acknowledging his colleague’s departure, 59-year-old John uploaded a photo to his Instagram stories outside his local David Lloyd club. Looking like he’d had a good workout, the Aussie chef captioned the post ‘Love spin’ and added: “Another bloody great class thank you.”
John’s complaint about Gregg
John previously admitted that one habit of Gregg’s used to anger his wife. Speaking to the Times in 2022, John revealed he wasn’t ‘very happy’ as Wallace used to disturb whilst sleeping: “With Gregg my issue is the 6am phone calls. Last time it happened I wasn’t very happy and I said, ‘Gregg, mate, it’s 6am’. And he said, ‘But you’re on my list!’ That’s the thing with Gregg, he gets up very early and his whole life is diarised and run on lists.”
With his partner, Lisa Faulkner lying beside him in bed, John wasn’t the only one displeased by Wallace’s morning ritual. However, after the article was published, the MasterChef judge revealed that the early morning calls stopped immediately, as he joked: “As soon as that article came out those calls stopped.”
With the irritation of Wallace’s early calls aside, Lisa confessed that there where other aspects of her marriage to John that ‘annoyed’ her: “Every couple has those little things that annoy them.”
John confesses he never saw Gregg as a friend
While John admitted that his co-star’s calls caused a problem in his marriage, in an interview in 2017, he shockingly claimed that he didn’t see Wallace as a friend: “It’s funny, we’ve never been friends. We’ve not been to each other’s houses… He’s so OCD, he wouldn’t know what to do.”
It was revealed yesterday (November 28) that Gregg would be leaving MasterChef while investigations from 13 people into allegations that he made inappropriate sexual comments are investigated. The allegations were made by people working across a range of shows over a 17-year period.
In a statement concerning the allegations, the production company behind MasterChef, Banijay UK said: “This week the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with presenter Gregg Wallace on one of our shows.
“Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate,” Banijay’s statement continued.
“While this review is under way, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully co-operating throughout the process.
“Banijay UK’s duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set.”
Gregg gushes over John – despite claim they’re not friends
Gregg gushed over his TV partner during an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, after John claimed that the pair were not friends.
In the TV interview, Gregg said: “I film with John six or seven months of the year, so we are very close to each other physically, and emotionally we are very close to each other.
“What’s great about having a partnership is that if one of you is a bit off, a bit down, the other one naturally steps up, so I rely on John a lot.”
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