Penny Lancaster brands Greg Wallace’s behaviour against her as ‘old-fashioned misogyny’
In her new memoir, Penny Lancaster has branded Greg Wallace’s behaviour against her as “a simple recipe of old-fashioned misogyny topped off with a sprinkling of ageism”.
Penny Lancaster has branded Greg Wallace’s behaviour against her as “a simple recipe of old-fashioned misogyny topped off with a sprinkling of ageism”.
The model and television personality, 54, who is married to musician Sir Rod Stewart, 80, makes the claims in her new autobiography Someone Like Me, published by Bloomsbury, and writes that her experience on the 2021 celebrity edition of MasterChef when Greg was host left her in tears and feeling humiliated.
She said: “No woman should ever go to work fearing they will be bullied or harassed, or arrive home knowing that they have been.”
Her account is part of a chapter added after Wallace, 60, was dismissed when more than 40 historic complaints about his behaviour were upheld.
Penny recalls an exchange in which Greg allegedly removed an orchid from one of her dishes, which were required to be identical under the competition rules.
She said he refused to return it, instead approaching her cooking station on the BBC’s MasterChef with what she described as “a thunderous stare”.
She wrote: “Then he marched over to my station with my tray and slammed it down. ‘I’m the judge and I make all the decisions’, he said menacingly, before heading back. By now, I was shaking. Everyone watched in silence and the atmosphere felt unbearable.”
She added Greg later dropped the flower on the floor in front of her, saying: “‘There you go, there’s your flower.’ Thinking about it now, I wonder why I bent down and picked it up. It was such a demeaning position to be placed in, as if his behaviour was part of a massive power-play.”
Penny also recalls a moment involving fellow contestant Melanie Sykes, who she claims was asked by Greg: “Is it true that models don’t eat?”
She said Melanie appeared “dismayed” by the remark, and that she herself was unimpressed by what she considered a body-shaming question.
Penny writes no one from the production team or Wallace’s co-presenter John Torode intervened during the incidents.
She also criticised Banijay, the company behind MasterChef, claiming safeguarding measures were unclear during filming under Covid-19 restrictions.
Penny said her husband Rod supported her through the experience, recalling how she felt “relieved” after her elimination.
She also notes Rod publicly criticised Greg on Instagram when allegations against him first surfaced, calling him a “bully”.
Elsewhere in Someone Like Me, Penny reflects on her marriage to Rod, their two children, and a past encounter with actor Gerard Butler.
She also details her decision to join the City of London Police as a special constable in 2021.
Someone Like Me by Penny Lancaster is out now.
