Although I do watch Masterchef, I’d be lying if I said I was a die-hard viewer. I normally wait for the series to finish and then binge it as background noise while I’m doing other things like writing. I currently have South Park on while writing this piece on Gregg Wallace as even that seems less controversial than this.
When I do watch Masterchef, I watch it for the contestants and for the food they make. I’ve never really watched it because of the charisma or like-ability of John Torode and certainly not Wallace. His opinions on the food being presented is what mattered to me, and never the banal small talk he’d initiate with the stressed contestants, who most of the time were busy cooking their dishes and were less than enthused at having someone distract them with his bad jokes and inane grin.
Before this news broke, I would’ve just chalked up his personality as being annoying or cringe-worthy. Now, it seems quite chilling and malevolent. At best, it’s the jokes of a dirty-minded man making everyone a bit uncomfortable. At worst, it’s the actions of a man with a warped, dangerous mind who has traumatised many female contestants and staff members he has worked with over the years.
it does continue the unfortunate pattern of male presenters making women feel unsafe and terrified
Over the last week, the outlook on these events has just got worse and worse. Co-host John Torode has admitted the two were never really friends and that he flagged up some of Wallace’s behaviour to the execs. More allegations have come in, some describing his actions in terrifying detail, and the show is currently in a mad scramble to find a new co-host to replace the disgraced Wallace.
This entire situation proves that the world of TV, particularly the BBC, have not learned their lesson regarding dealing with gross misconduct by their presenters. As much as the corporation tries to forget it, the BBC are still reeling from the decades of abuse by Jimmy Saville that did not come to light until after his death and, although the allegations against Wallace are not quite as extreme as that, it does continue the unfortunate pattern of male presenters making women feel unsafe and terrified. Wallace’s response to the situation, saying the allegations only come from ‘middle-class women of a certain age,’ has finally shown his true colours as a deeply nasty individual who refuses to accept wrongdoing, and in trying to prove his innocence once again attacked women.
Finding a solution to this problem is a much more systemic issue than just firing every presenter reported for their gross behaviour, but doing that will still help greatly. Alas, the BBC once again decided that the protection of a brand was more important than the protection of women.