Gregg Wallace addresses Penny Lancaster and Vanessa Feltz claims

Gregg Wallace has said he contemplated suicide after being hit by allegations of multiple instances of inappropriate behaviour, as he addressed specific claims by high-profile figures, including Penny Lancaster and Vanessa Feltz.

Last year, Wallace was accused of making “highly inappropriate” comments to 13 people across five shows over a 17-year period between 2005 to 2022, by media personalities such as former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark and actor Katy Brand. ,

He was also accused of “bullying” or inappropriate behaviour by celebrities, including Rod Stewart’s wife, former model Lancaster, and TV presenter Feltz.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, the TV host said he had endured a “tidal wave of abuse” on social media after he posted a video on Instagram hitting out at the allegations, which he claimed came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.

“I hadn’t slept for four days,” Wallace said, explaining why he posted the clip, which he later apologised for.

“The feeling of being under attack, of isolation, of abandonment was overwhelming. Nobody from the BBC contacted me once these stories started breaking – absolutely nobody at all.”

He continued: “News channels were updating hourly with new allegations. There was a tidal wave of abuse on social media, a dozen reporters outside the gate. You’re watching yourself get personally ripped apart, criticised, accused of all sorts of stuff over and over again. You’re thinking, ‘This isn’,t true. It isn’t true. What’s coming next?”

He later said, “I thought about suicide all the time, ‘Is my insurance up to date? Will [my wife] Anna get some money? She doesn’t deserve this. It would be better if I wasn’t here.’”

He told the newspaper that MasterChef’s production company, Banijay, arranged for a crisis mentor to support him after he posted his video.

Most of the allegations, which were made in a BBC News investigation, came from production workers, many of whom were young female freelancers.

After the allegations were published, others came forward to accuse Wallace, 60, of incidents involving “groping” and “touching”, all of which he has vehemently denied.

Wallace said he had been taken aback to hear complaints from women he thought he had “got on” with, including Wark, 70, who accused him of telling “sexualised jokes” during the filming of Celebrity MasterChef in 2011, and other high-profile media personalities such as Vanessa Feltz and Kirstie Allsopp.

He said Feltz’s complaint had “knocked him for six” and also rejected Allsopp’s comments about his alleged reference to a sex act: “I wouldn’t have said that.”

Wallace addressed claims by rock singer Rod Stewart’s wife, former model Penny Lancaster, who alleged that he bullied and harassed her when she appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2021.

According to Wallace, the “falling out”, which he said there was raw footage of, involved a disagreement over whether an orchid should stay on a bowl of soup.

“I want to take the orchid off because it’s not edible,” he said. “She wants it to stay on.”

The Independent has contacted Lancaster’s representative for comment.

Wallace admitted that some accusations of him making inappropriate jokes were “probably true” but denied groping anyone, calling those claims “absolutely not true”.

After stepping down from MasterChef, he was replaced by Grace Dent who joined his former co-host, John Torode.

He also revealed that he was recently diagnosed with autism: “I want to make it absolutely clear, I’m not blaming my behaviour on my diagnosis, but it does explain a hell of a lot to me.”

Among the allegations were claims that Wallace would talk openly about his sex life and once told a junior female colleague he wasn’t wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans.

A former MasterChef worker told BBC News that he showed her topless photos of himself and asked for massages, while a former worker on Channel 5’s Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends claimed he was fascinated by the fact that she dated women and asked her about the “logistics” of it.

The TV host and model Ulrika Jonsson told The Telegraph after the first allegations were published that Wallace allegedly had to apologise after making a “rape joke” that caused serious distress to another female contestant while she was competing on Celebrity MasterChef in 2017.

Geordie Shore star Charlotte Crosby, who appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2024, commented on Rod Stewart’s post about his wife to allege Wallace was “extremely unpleasant” to her during filming.

Wallace’s lawyers said it was “entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.

Findings from an investigation by Banijay into Wallace’s alleged behaviour are expected to be made public next month.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.

How online schools can help children form friendships as they learn

When thinking about the best education for your child, it’s naturally not just academic success that comes to mind. A good quality school experience is made up of many parts and one key element is the socialising opportunities that school can provide. Socialisation is crucial for building social skills, growing emotional intelligence and helping children form their own individual identity, as well as giving them an additional incentive to attend a place where they have fun and feel part of a community.

While it might be assumed that the social options are reduced when children attend online school, this is not the case. In fact, there are a number of advantages in terms of the structures, support and diverse social opportunities offered to children who join online schools.

Online schools give students the opportunity to form connections with a much more diverse community of students. The online model allows schools to welcome young people from around the world and this gives pupils a chance to make friends with students from differing backgrounds and cultures. Furthermore, this means they can meet more like-minded individuals and form stronger bonds and more meaningful friendships. This access to such a big and vibrant community also ensures that students can really find ‘their people’ and avoids situations where students are stuck in small circles or forced to engage with classmates that don’t share the same interests or passions.

This is something that Grace, who is now in year 13, has experienced since moving to online school. At her previous school, she was struggling with socialisation and felt that she didn’t really have a self-identity. At an online school, she has found she can be more herself. “A lot of people think that online school is about being alone, but I’ve found that without the physical element, I can express myself better,” Grace explains.  Subsequently, the majority of her closest friends are from her online school and many she has met offline too. “I feel like I’ve met my people,” she says.

Isabella, who is in year 10, has also found that her experience of socialising at an online school has suited her much more than previous bricks and mortar schools. With her father’s job meaning the family moves country every three years, she has always previously struggled forming new friendships at the schools she joins. “I’m always the ‘new’ student, and it’s tough,” she says. After experiences with bullying, she found that online school is an environment she can thrive in. “You don’t have to turn on your camera or use your microphones if you’re not feeling comfortable. I’m not really a ‘social’ person, but I have made some friends here because we have these breakout rooms where we can talk to each other,” she adds.

While young people might not be meeting their fellow students physically every day, online schools put in place extensive measures to ensure that socialising is available for those who want to. This can be seen clearly at King’s InterHigh, the UK’s leading global online school which welcomes children aged 7 to 19 from across the world. Here, students join a warm and welcoming community with a huge range of opportunities for socialising. There’s dozens of clubs and societies for students across all year groups, representing a vast range of interests from chess to technology, sculpture to debate. Throughout the yearly student calendar, there are a number of events, showcases, and competitions of all kinds that provide a chance to socialise in different settings. Some happen internally, like the King’s InterHigh Arts Festival, while others allow students to interact with peers from outside their school when attending events like the International Robotics Competition.

Assemblies bring students together on a weekly basis and give them the chance to celebrate each other’s achievements, hear from their Student Council representatives, and find out what’s coming up at school. Each student is also assigned to one of the school’s eight houses and these smaller, tight-knit communities bring students a sense of belonging and camaraderie. Additionally, inter-house competitions are a fun and friendly way for students to engage and bond.

Although much socialising can come as a result of activities organised by the school, students at King’s InterHigh who are aged over 13 can continue building these relationships in a more informal setting thanks to the in-house, monitored, social media platform. Restricted solely to school students, the platform is safe, secure, and monitored to ensure a positive socialising environment for all those who choose to use it.

Online schools don’t just offer opportunities to socialise online but also offer ample opportunities to cement these connections in offline settings. At King’s InterHigh, there are global meet-ups throughout the year which bring together families allowing both children and parents and guardians to connect in real life. Regular educational school trips, from Geography excursions to science practical exams at other Inspired schools (the group of premium schools of which King’s InterHigh is part of) also allow children to socialise and have fun together in different settings.

Meanwhile, the annual summer camps, themed around a variety of interests and passions, including adventure sports, fashion, football, and tennis, are open to students across all Inspired schools and are held at spectacular Inspired campuses worldwide. Furthermore, the Inspired Global Exchange Programme offers a range of school exchange opportunities, lasting from one week to a full academic year.

Choosing where to educate your children is a big decision for any parent or guardian that involves many factors. However, when it comes to the social benefits, for the right child, online schools offer something truly transformative. To find out more about King’s InterHigh and whether it might be the right learning choice for your family, visit King’s InterHigh