Fife chef Dean Banks says under-fire MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace “made people feel at ease” when he joined him on the BBC set.
Wallace faces allegations of making “inappropriate sexual jokes”, asking for the phone numbers of female members of production staff, and undressing in front of and standing “too close” to women working on his shows.
But Dean, whose business empire includes restaurants in Dundee and Fife, has a different perspective.
The 35-year-old saw Wallace at close quarters in 2018 as a contestant on Masterchef: The Professionals, where he reached the finals.
“When people asked me about Gregg Wallace prior to these allegations I said he was the heart and soul of the show,” Dean told The Courier.
“When we were on set he was making everyone laugh and making them feel at ease
“People can be nervous and uptight when you are filming – especially for someone who hasn’t been in front of a camera.
“So someone who is cracking some jokes can make you relax.”
Dean Banks shares ‘positive’ experiences with Gregg Wallace
Dean’s ventures include the Haar Restaurant in St Andrews, Temple Lane Bar in Dundee and Dollar pub The Forager.
The entrepreneur added he has only positive memories of working with Wallace in 10 episodes of MasterChef.
But he stopped short of formally defending the 60-year-old.
“I can’t defend someone from what I’ve not seen or heard,” Dean continued.
“With a lot of people sharing the negative experiences, it’s fair to share the positives as well.
“His jokes were very harmless.
“But then I am from a hardy upbringing in Arbroath and I have a brass neck, so you have to consider that too.
“A joke is an opinion and some people take it in different ways.
“I can understand other people’s point.
“Everyone can be offended by different things.
“But my perspective is that he used to lighten the mood when people were in the studio.”
Allegations from former Celebrity MasterChef contestant
The Sunday Times reported that BBC executive Kate Phillips raised concerns Wallace’s behaviour was “unacceptable and cannot continue”.
The intervention came after broadcaster and former Celebrity MasterChef contestant Aasmah Mir complained about inappropriate comments during filming.
The Sunday Telegraph reported producer Georgia Harding, who worked on MasterChef between 2014 and 2015 and later Eat Well For Less, claimed she raised concerns about “inappropriate” behaviour from him while working on the show.
She alleged the former greengrocer undressed in front of colleagues and “made inappropriate sexual jokes” in front of the crew and people appearing on the shows.
Allegations were also raised by staff members about Wallace’s behaviour on Channel 5’s Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends to BBC News, with producer Rumpus Media saying it would be investigating allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”.
Wallace makes ‘middle-class women’ claim after stepping away from BBC show
It comes after it was announced Wallace is to step away from the BBC cooking show while historical misconduct complaints are externally reviewed by MasterChef producer Banijay UK.
Wallace’s lawyers say “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
In a post on Instagram on Sunday, Wallace said: “I’ve been doing Masterchef for 20 years, amateur, celebrity and professional 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.
“Apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time.
“I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef.
“This isn’t right.
“In 20 years, over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks, or sexual innuendo? Can you imagine?”
In a third video, Wallace claimed “absolutely none” of the people he had worked with on his shows had made a complaint about him.
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