News

The BBC’s nightmare year from Strictly scandal to Gregg Wallace allegations


Gregg Wallace looking stern while appearing on Lorraine

Gregg Wallace isn’t the only male celebrity working on BBC to have allegations made about them (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

The BBC have been experiencing quite the annus horribilis.

Over the past 12 months, the broadcaster has been at the centre of scandals, with some of their high-profile male stars facing allegations about their behaviour and convictions being made.

The most recent debacle has come as former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace has been accused of making inappropriate sexual comments by 13 people, including Former Newsnight host Kirsty Wark. Production company Banijay have launched a ‘thorough’ investigation, and he will no longer present the long-running cooking show while the investigation is underway.

A BBC spokesperson has told the PA news agency: ‘We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.

‘We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated.

‘Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them.’

Wallace’s lawyers have claimed it is ‘entirely false’ he engages in a ‘behaviour of a sexually harassing nature’.

Wallace’s exit is just one of the catastrophic incidents during BBC’s year of hell.

Strictly scandal

Pernice was at the centre of the Strictly scandal (Picture: Shutterstock)

Strictly Come Dancing was engulfed in scandal following allegations against Giovanni Pernice, 34, by his former dance partner Amanda Abbington, who quit Strictly last year after five weeks.

The Sherlock actress, 50, made claims Pernice had bullied her during rehearsals, which he denied.

After months of investigating, the BBC finally shared their results in September. They upheld two moments of ‘inappropriate behaviour of sexual banter in the workplace’ and found that Pernice had used ‘swear words’ and ‘belittling’ language while the duo were paired together.

Following the conclusion, BBC issued an apology to Abbington.

Di Prima also left Strictly (Picture: Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/REX/Shutterstock)

Fellow professional dancer Graziano Di Prima, 30, left the BBC series following claims of ‘physical incidents’, including allegations he ‘kicked and hit’ Zara McDermott.

Di Prima said in a statement that he ‘apologised at the time’ and knew he had ‘made a mistake’. He later claimed his foot ‘brushed’ McDermott after he ‘kicked the floor in frustration’ due to the ‘pressure of the show.’

He told the Daily Mail: ‘I’m not a monster. I’m not an abusive man.

‘The only thing I can think of is the time I kicked the floor in frustration. We’d practised hour after hour to perfect a routine with lifts. It wasn’t easy but that’s the pressure of the show,’ told the Daily Mail.

‘I wasn’t meaning to kick her. I’d never, never do that. My foot brushed her after I kicked the floor.’

A friend of Di Prima told Metro: ‘Graziano isn’t making excuses for his behaviour. He’s a good man, who’s done something wrong. He’s apologised and wants to move on with …read more

Source:: Metro

      

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *