Master Chef host Gregg Wallace denies making sexual comments to a female colleague

Gregg Wallace has denied making sexual comments to a female colleague.

The 59-year-old presenter - who has been married to Anne-Marie Sterpini since 2016 - was said to have faced "allegations about his conduct" in 2018 during which time he was said to have bragged about his personal life but he has now insisted that he was cleared of it all at the time and he has never flirted with anyone since he met his wife.

Speaking in a video posted to Instagram, he said: "With reference to what's in the newspapers, these allegations were investigated by the BBC six years ago - and my comments were found to be not sexual. I repeat not sexual. Thank you for your time.

"Something else that I feel very strongly about, strong enough to be on here, nobody six years ago or since has accused me of flirting with anybody or hitting on anybody. And that's important to me, and I say this for my wife Anna, who I've been true to and madly in love with since the day I met her."

The Master Chef host - who was initially married to Christine Wallace in 1991, then went on to have Tom, 30, and Libby, 27, with second wife Denise but was then married to Heidi Brown from 2011 until 2012 - was initially said to have let the team "mortified" with his alleged actions, even though he supposedly thought it was all "banter" at the time.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "Gregg was accused of making inappropriate comments to a younger, female member of the production team.

“He is said to have been boasting about his sex life with his partner at the time. At one point, Gregg was also accused of taking his top off in front of the woman which felt inappropriate. Gregg appeared to think it was all just banter and is also said to have made some comments in front of the live audience.

“The team working on the show were mortified and told BBC top brass what had happened.”

According to reports, Gregg was told by bosses to "amend his behaviour" but the broadcaster doesn't comment on individuals and insisted that all issues are dealt with in a "swift" manner.

In a statement, the BBC said: "Whilst we do not comment on individuals, if issues are raised they are dealt with swiftly and appropriately at the time. We do not tolerate any form of inappropriate behaviour and have robust processes in place."