Gregg Wallace breaks silence on Inside The Factory exit claims

Gregg Wallace has broken his silence on allegations that he left Inside The Factory after making “derogatory jokes” towards female staff.

Although he pulled out of the BBC2 show in March after claiming he wanted to spend more time with his three-year-old son, the host’s interaction at the Nestlé factory has since been cited as a contributing factor.

The MasterChef presenter has been accused of being ‘rude to staff’ and ‘speaking in a derogatory way, especially towards women’ and was said to be ‘appalled’ for causing ‘such an offence’.

On Tuesday on Good Morning Britain, the 58-year-old former greengrocer was quizzed by host Richard Madeley about the circumstances of his departure and asked about the truth of his ‘offensive’ behaviour.

Gregg confirmed there was “a falling out” on the show, but declined to give further details and insisted he go to spend more time with his son Sid, who is autistic and non-verbal.

He said: “There was an argument in Inside The Factory. The report is not accurate. There was a problem and I thought it was the perfect time to get out.

“Offend people? No no. If you look at the titles, you can’t see a story that matches those titles. But there was a problem; I don’t want to discuss the problem.

“But I thought it was a good time – mum needs help with Sid at home, traveling the country to get to these factories – I thought it was a good time to give up something.”

Gregg previously said he was stepping down from Inside The Factory to help raise Sid, whom he shares with wife Anne-Marie Sterpini, 21 years his junior.

He told Gaby Roslin’s BBC Radio London show that although his son is a ‘lovely, sweet little boy’ with a ‘wonderful mother’, parenthood is ‘not easy’.

“Right now we have to find an education for her and I can’t leave that to Anna – it’s a very big decision,” he explained.

“I mean, all parents worry about what schools the kids will go to. Ours is even more highlighted because of poor little Sid’s problems.

The presenter of MasterChef had been accused of having made remarks deemed inappropriate and supposedly related to the weight of women in the establishment, but which were not of a sexual nature.

A source told The Times that the staff involved said they would not be happy to go on the show if it returned with Gregg at the helm.

They continued: ‘[Gregg] sensed he was just trying to be friendly but was at a loss as to what was the right thing to say and decided to leave.

Following initial comments, a Nestlé insider added: “He comes to make jokes but comes from a very different world to our workers.”

Nestlé itself said: “Nestlé UK has been proud to host Inside the Factory on five occasions since the start of the series.

‘We have one more episode filmed. . . and would be open to participating in future episodes or similar projects.

Gregg has presented the factual program for the past seven years with the BBC, but has yet to announce his replacement.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.

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