Friends of Gregg Wallace have said his autism is partly responsible for his inappropriate behaviour, it was reported last night.
The 60-year-old’s condition has allegedly caused an ‘inability to wear underwear because of his autistic hypersensitivity to labels and tight clothing’.
His autism is said to result in him having an ‘oddity of filters and boundaries’, The Times reported.
A source close to Wallace said the complaints against him were primarily related to language and most were before 2018, when he realised he had been behaving inappropriately.
‘He stopped going out with the team and stopped telling jokes because he realised he didn’t know what was right and what crossed the line,’ a friend said.
Wallace is planning to sue the BBC and makers of MasterChef following his dismissal, The Daily Telegraph reported. ‘So many people on the show talked openly about suspecting that he had autism for years before he got his diagnosis,’ a source said.
Friends of Gregg Wallace have said his autism is partly responsible for his inappropriate behaviour, it was reported last night
It comes as an industry watchdog said Wallace’s ‘cheeky chappie’ excuse for his sexual misconduct doesn’t wash.
The public did not see the former MasterChef host’s ‘uglier side’, said Baroness Kennedy, who heads the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority.
On Tuesday the BBC received 50 new claims over Wallace, including that he groped a worker on the show.
Wallace said the allegations are ‘uncorroborated tittle-tattle’.
Due to the BBC’s cost-cutting measures, it’s been deemed unlikely that Gregg will receive any or redundancy package, but he could land a six-figure payout from a tribunal in his favour.
On Tuesday, Gregg released a statement ahead of the investigation into his misconduct allegations being published later this week.
Wallace denies the claims and has condemned the corporation in a scathing social media post saying he had been cleared of ‘the most serious and sensational accusations’.
But fresh claims come from people who say they encountered him across a range of shows with the majority alleging he made inappropriate sexual comments towards them, according to BBC News.
The Mastercherf presenter hit out at bosses in a scathing post over his sacking, and is now reportedly considering taking the BBC to a tribunal (pictured with co-host John Torode)
Writing on Instagram, Gregg said he had taken the decision to go public before the Silkins report was published as ‘he cannot sit in silence while my reputation is further damaged’
Out of the 50 allegations, 11 women have accused him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, such as groping and touching.
The report is to be officially published on Thursday, but Wallace’s legal team have claimed to have seen the report.
A BBC spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace.
‘We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published.’
In response to the latest allegations, a spokesperson for Wallace told the BBC: ‘Gregg continues to co-operate fully with the ongoing Banijay UK review and as previously stated, denies engaging in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.’
