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'I felt like chucking Gregg Wallace out of the taxi': Cab driver reveals TV host asked him about 'sex life with wife'
2 December 2024, 09:58 | Updated: 2 December 2024, 10:32
Cab driver says Gregg Wallace 'asked him about his sex life with his wife'
A former London cab driver has told LBC that Gregg Wallace once 'asked him about his sex life with his wife' after picking him up as a passenger.
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Speaking with Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the former taxi driver revealed the Masterchef presenter's unsavoury comments took place during a short journey in London around "five or ten years ago".
John, from Leytonstone, described how he was forced to "put him in his place" following the inappropriate remarks.
“I picked him up, Gregg Wallace - I don’t watch Masterchef or anything,” John told Nick, adding: “I’ve picked up many celebrities in my life, I knew who he was.”
“This was before all of this stuff came out," he clarified, referencing the recent string of allegations linked to inappropriate remarks and conduct by Mr Wallace in recent days.
Mounting allegations against the Masterchef presenter include asking for the phone numbers of female members of production staff, as well as undressing in front of and standing "too close" to women working on his shows.
Recounting the incident with Mr Wallace, the former London cabbie said that “within about a minute or so, he said: ‘Driver, can I ask you a question?”
Read more: Gregg Wallace shares bizarre message amid mounting misconduct claims against Masterchef presenter
Giving him the go-ahead, Mr Wallace then immediately posed the question “are you married?”, before asking: 'Can I ask you what your sex life between you and your life is like?'”
To which an exasperated Nick replied: “Oh, God”.
Gregg Wallace is guilty of 'making some off-colour remarks' and 'not reading the room', journalist says
Recent days have seen the number of allegations against the presenter soar, as well as claims that the BBC was previously made aware of similar allegations.
"I basically put him in his place," the cabbie confirmed, "I felt like chatting him out of the taxi, but I didn’t.”
Explaining that he "told certain people at the time" including his wife and a handful of other family members, John said that the story came back around.
"I got a text from my sister the other day saying ‘that story about Gregg Wallace you told me a few years back, you were tell the truth’.”
Asked about Mr Wallace’s reaction to the disapproval, John told Nick: “He backed down a bit, he knew I was a bit angry, because its’ not a thing to say, it’s not a thing for anybody would really say - especially if you’ve just met the person.”
Mr Wallace has hit back at allegations linked to inappropriate behaviour in recent days over social media.
He claimed the accusations of inappropriate behaviour against him came from "a handful of middle-class women of a certain age"
Ulrika Jonsson, who competed on Celebrity MasterChef in 2017, claimed Wallace had been forced to apologise for one comment, telling the Telegraph: "When he made reference to women of a certain age I was just seething... I was just absolutely wild."
Kirstie Allsopp is another who has spoken out against Mr Wallace, alleging the presenter once made a comment to her about his sex life which left her "so embarrassed" she thought she "might cry".
"That is unacceptable. Because he is essentially saying this is a class issue and middle-class women don't understand the type of things he says because he's working-class.
"Well I'm sorry, but he's doing an incredible disservice to men," she said previously.
