Gregg Wallace is reportedly set to take legal action against the BBC and the production team behind Masterchef, claiming he was discriminated against due to his autism following his sacking from the long-running series.
After conducting a nine-month investigation into a mountain of misconduct allegations against Wallace (including inappropriate sexual comments, groping, asking for phone numbers of female production staff, undressing in front of and standing “too close” to women working on his show), the BBC decided to dismiss the Masterchef host earlier this week.
Wallace, 60, immediately put out a furious statement on Instagram, promising he would ‘not go quietly’, and sure enough, he now plans to take the BBC ‘to the cleaners’ for autism discrimination. Although I’m pretty sure most autistic people manage to go through life without sexually harassing people all the time, but I guess that will be for the courts to decide.
Wallace strongly denies any serious misconduct but admits that his behaviour may have been misinterpreted and caused by social misunderstandings stemming from his autism, which he was only formally diagnosed with recently.
Which makes you think: if Gregg Wallace didn’t know he had autism until recently, how would the BBC have known? Can you discriminate against someone with autism if you don’t know they have autism?
Wallace is arguing his sense of humour and communication style was misunderstood in a neurotypical working environment. Although again, I’m not sure how undressing in front of (exclusively) female colleagues or telling them you’re not wearing any underwear is caused by autism. I don’t remember Dustin Hoffman doing that in Rainman, do you? Maybe Gino D’Acampo could come out and say he’s got autism too?
In any case, Wallace claims that his dismissal amounts to workplace discrimination, and sources close to the presenter say he is seeking legal redress under disability rights protections.
His buddies have also been speaking to the media, claiming that autism is also to blame for Gregg Wallace’s ‘inability to wear underwear.’
In claims made to The Times, someone ‘close’ to the TV presenter referred to Wallace’s ‘inability to wear underwear because of his autistic hypersensitivity to labels and tight clothing’. Incredible.
In all likelihood, Gregg Wallace only went and got this diagnosis on the advice of his lawyers, so that he could have an excuse for his behaviour but more crucially, sue the BBC for discrimination (since there was never going to be any other outcome than a sacking). While working at the BBC, dozens and dozens of people made complaints about Gregg Wallace’s character and behaviour, and ‘sources’ claim that many had assumed that Wallace had autism during this time. In which case why didn’t he get a diagnosis before this all blew up?
We’ll have to see how this one plays out in court, but I’ve got a feeling Gregg Wallace is just making matters worse for himself, and is going to take a big financial hit in his attempt at suing the BBC. Not to mention waste his time and drag this on through the media for a couple more years.
Let it go, Gregg! Maybe spend some more time with your kid now that you’ve got some free time on your hands.
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