Everyone is hashtagging ‘women of a certain age’ as Gregg Wallace responds to accusations

Gregg Wallace has doubled-down on his innocence after stepping down from TV appearances, amid claims of sexual comments towards MasterChef contestants - prompting an online movement from women speaking out on their experiences.

Formal allegations from 13 women suggest that the TV host made "inappropriate jokes" and behaved unprofessionally during his 17-year stint, however, the 60-year-old insists "middle class women of a certain age" are behind the tirade.

In a video posted to Instagram, Wallace claimed he'd "worked with over 4,000 contestants in that time", arguably playing-down the impact of the 13 who reported they'd been impacted by working with him.

Accusations included asking for the phone numbers of female production staff, undressing in front of people, and sharing stories about his sex life on set.

Gregg Wallace

"I'm seeing complaints in the papers coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef...this isn't right", he told the camera in response.

"In over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo - can you imagine?"

Since the news of the allegations broke, a number of celebrities have come forward against the presenter, including Emma Kennedy, Kirsty Wark, and Location, Location, Location's Kirstie Allsopp.

Gregg Wallace claims accusations were from ‘middle-class women of a certain age’ Gregg Wallace/Instagram

Why is everyone hashtagging 'women of a certain age' on X?

After Gregg Wallace released a statement claiming "middle-class women of a certain age" were behind the claims made about him, women on social media, who consider themselves to fit into that demographic, have been reclaiming it to share their own stories, using the hashtag '#womenofacertainage'.

The hashtag has since been used thousands of times, and is currently trending on Twitter/X.

Fellow TV host Allsopp posted on X: "Within 1hr of meeting Gregg Wallace he told me of a sex act that he & his partner at the time enjoyed 'every morning', she’d just left the room, we were filming a pilot. Did he get off on how embarrassed I was? It was totally unprofessional, I’m a #MiddleClassWomanOfaCertainAge."

Ulrika Jonsson, who competed on Celebrity MasterChef in 2017, noted that she was also "seething" at Wallace's response to the claims.

Kirsty Wark clashed with Gregg Wallace when she appeared on Celebrity MasterChefJeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire

Ex-MasterChef star, Aggie MacKenzie, appeared on Good Morning Britain off the back of the news, alleging that Gregg Wallace told "smutty' jokes" and "couldn't read the room" when she appeared on the show alongside him.

"It doesn’t matter what the age of any woman is", said actor, Emma Kennedy, who won the celebrity spin-off of the cooking show in 2012. “It’s a story as old as the tides that people who have been accused of inappropriate behaviour turn the tables on those pointing it out and try and change the narrative."

Wallace has denied any wrongdoing.

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