BBC boss says 'I may have acted differently' over Gregg Wallace complaints

Kate Phillips, Chief Content Officer at the BBC, has spoken about the removal of Gregg Wallace from the popular culinary show, MasterChef.

After 83 allegations were made against 60-year-old Wallace's behaviour, a seven-month investigation began, which also resulted in his co-star John Torode being axed.

In the end, 45 of those complaints were upheld and Wallace has since said he is "deeply sorry for any distress" that he may have caused.

The TV presenter also said that he "never set out to harm or humiliate", as part of a statement issued to the PA news agency.

This week, Chief Content Officer at the BBC Kate Phillips spoke at the Edinburgh TV Festival about the situation that's unfolded over the past few months.

When discussing Wallace's removal from Masterchef and being "warned about his behaviour in 2019," Kate was asked at the Edinburgh TV Festival, "Do you regret he wasn't removed sooner?"

Kate explained: "I think when complaints came to me about Gregg Wallace, which, as you mentioned, I always dealt with it straight away. So two complaints, I dealt with them, I acted on them.

"I think we weren't as joined up in the BBC as we are now, so I didn't know about some of the historical things that have taken place.

"So if I'd known about those at the time, yes, I may have acted differently, but I acted on the information I was given. I think I acted responsibly.

"I left in no doubt of the expected behaviour that we expect at the BBC, if you like, and I stand by the actions I took at the time."

She later added: "We are in a really good place, and we have a lot to be proud of, and I think going forward, I want to keep building on that but evolving.

"So, taking big creative risks, doing that mix of big, reputational, popular shows, is really important.

"And I think our digital growth strategy, and we're very focused on going forward, making sure that we are reaching all the audiences, wherever they are.

"So I think it's building up the successes that we've seen so far. But the world is changing, and it's changing fast, and I'm going to make sure we're evolving with it."

Despite both John Torode and Gregg Wallace no longer being part of the show, the new series has continued to air, which was filmed before they were axed.

The BBC said it had taken the decision "after careful consideration and consultation with the contestants".

However, some contestants have been edited out of the series, following the controversy surrounding the show.

MasterChef is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.