A contestant for the upcoming amateur season of MasterChef has claimed she was ‘eyed up and ogled’ by Gregg Wallace on the show, while accusing the TV host of making an ‘off’ comment about his reputation with women.
Sarah Shafi, who was set to appear on the show’s yet to be aired season, said the greengrocer, 60, made her feel like a ‘rabbit in the headlights’, when he made a ‘throwaway comment’ his reputation with women.
Unable to recall the exchange verbatim, she told Newsnight: ‘I just stood there, I didn’t know how to respond to that. And that I just thought, where’s that come from? Why was he saying that to me?
‘And then later he came, it was a bit closer and made a comment that I was really amazing and I thought, it’s weird, but I’ll take it. But I thought I just don’t like it. I felt it was off.’
Saying she went on the show ‘faithful to food’, Ms Shafi also revealed she was left ‘flabbergasted’ after being edited out of the hit cooking competition by the BBC following a heated conversation where she felt pressured to agree to the cut.
Setting out her hopes for the show, she claimed to have been ‘eyed up and ogled’ by the TV host, before adding: ‘I went there being faithful to food…it just felt that was very uncomfortable for me.’
Ms Shafi then took a swipe at the BBC, claiming she was edited out following a ‘heated conversation’ where she felt under pressure to agree in what she later described as a woman ‘getting silenced into extinction’.
‘It was enough to make me feel uncomfortable,’ she said. ‘I’m not interested in that level of attention. For me it was unwanted. I went there being faithful to food, not to be eyed up and ogled. It just felt that was very uncomfortable for me.’
Banijay UK, the production company behind MasterChef, told the BBC they had no records of Ms Shafi raising concerns about Mr Wallace’s behaviour at the time. They also said they found no evidence of her claims in unedited footage.
When this was brought up, the contestant said it ‘probably happened off camera’, before saying she spoke to family when she arrived back at her hotel, and then MasterChef on the phone the following day.
Describing the show as feeling like a ‘boys game’, she said it was not an environment she wanted to be a part of or participate in.
Ms Shafi then took a swipe at the BBC, claiming she was edited out following a ‘heated conversation’ where she felt under pressure to agree in what she later described as a woman ‘getting silenced into extinction’.
She claimed to have felt ‘coerced’ into agreeing to be cut out before the airing of the show was even announced.
‘But I was very firm that, you know, you say it’s life-changing for all those contestants, what I’d probably argue that top 10 at best,’ she said.
‘What about the women? What about those… 43 or those 83 women who have substantiated claims have made, their lives might have changed for the worse.
‘Where’s the respect for them? They’re talking about calling the contestants to see if they’re okay with the show being aired.
‘What about those victims who are going to be re-traumatised by seeing their perpetrators on television again? Did they, did the BBC speak to them?’
When asked by Newsnight what the BBC could do beyond scrapping MasterChef, the contestant questioned ‘where was the learning’ and ‘self-awareness’ from the broadcaster was following allegations of sexual misconduct against its staff.
Ms Shafi’s allegations to Newsnight comes after it was revealed that the BBC would air its amateur 2025 series of MasterChef.
In the nine months since the hit BBC programme finished filming last Autumn there have been questions over whether it would ever be broadcast following allegations of inappropriate behaviour against presenter Wallace.
The corporation since revealed the amateur series of MasterChef filmed last year, before allegations against Gregg were upheld, will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from August 6.
The Daily Mail understand that the BBC have advised Banijay to reduce Gregg and Jon’s screen time to a minimum in light of the report’s findings.
Yesterday, the former Masterchef host has claimed he is sorry for hurting the 41 people accusing him of inappropriate behaviour.
He tearfully pleaded ‘I’m not a groper, a sex pest or a flasher’ in his first interview since the BBC axed him following complaints from multiple women over several years.
The former TV show host added that he feels unfairly treated and claims he has been discussed in the same breath as sex offenders Jimmy Savile and Huw Edwards which he says has taken a toll on him and his family.
He told The Sun that he understood some of his actions may have offended people and ‘weren’t socially acceptable’ but denied being a ‘wrong-un’.
The 60-year-old stepped down from the hit BBC cooking show after complaints were made about his behaviour and following a report into his conduct, 45 of 83 complaints were upheld.
Wallace also backed his former MasterChef co-host John Torode, claiming: ‘He’s not a racist’ and said his biggest regret was ever venturing into TV work, adding his life was much better when he was a greengrocer.
The ex Eat Well for Less? presenter said while he didn’t deny being guilty of some of the claims – which included dropping his trousers in front of staff and using inappropriate innuendos – he believed things had been ‘perceived incorrectly’.
He said his actions were the result of learned behaviour and workplace culture, adding: ‘In a room of 200 people, one person complained about my knob joke. It sounds a lot, but you have to consider that I don’t work in an office.’
The Daily Mail has approached Gregg Wallace’s representatives and Banijay UK for comment.
