GREGG Wallance is suing the BBC for £10,000 for “distress and harassment” caused by his MasterChef sacking.
The presenter, 60, was axed from the cooking competition in July following allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”.
Gregg Wallace is suing the BBC for £10k following his MasterChef axing[/caption]
Both Gregg and co-star John Torode were made to leave the show[/caption]
Wallace has launched legal action against the BBC and and BBC Studios Distribution Limited over a data protection claim.
The presenter is seeking damages of up to £10,000 for “distress, harassment and loss of amenity”, court documents show.
Barrister Lawrence Power said Wallace had requested “personal data” from the BBC and BBC Studios related to “his work, contractual relations and conduct” in March.
BBC Studios said it would “endeavour to respond” within a month, the papers state.
On August 7, the corporation emailed Wallace to apologise for the delay and said it was “taking all reasonable steps” to process the request in “a timely manner as possible going forward”.
But Wallace claims he has still not received a response and that BBC Studios said it was withholding parts of his personal data due to “freedom of expression”.
Mr Power said that the body had “wrongly redacted” information and had “unlawfully failed to supply all of the claimant’s personal data”.
He argued this breaches their “statutory duty” and in doing so, “caused distress and harassment to the claimant”.
The BBC and BBC Studios have not yet filed a defence to the claim.
Wallace was fired after a damning report upheld 45 of 83 complaints between 2005 and 2024.
It found the “majority of the substantiated allegations against Mr Wallace related to inappropriate sexual language and humour”.
The report concluded a “smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated”.
Wallace’s co-star John Torode, 60, was also fired in the wake of the report following an upheld complaint he used an “extremely offensive racist term”.
The former greengrocer said previously: “For eight months, my family and I have lived under a cloud. Trial by media, fuelled by rumour and clickbait.
“None of the serious allegations against me were upheld.
“I challenged the remaining issue of unwanted touching, but have had to accept a difference in perception, and I am deeply sorry for any distress caused. It was never intended.”
Wallace is seeking damages of up to £10,000[/caption]
