Gregg Wallace trying to 'earn a living' after MasterChef exit amid 'battle every day'

Former MasterChef co-host Gregg Wallace has opened up about his decision to remain in the public eye following his departure from the show. The presenter spoke about the aftermath of the scandal in a video message this week.

Last month, it was reported that Gregg, 60, had been fired from the BBC show after an investigation upheld 45 out of 83 allegations of inappropriate behaviour. He had previously said that the review exonerated him of "all the serious allegations" but he apologised for "inappropriate" humour and language.

Gregg hasn't shied away from being in the spotlight since his departure, with him promoting other ventures on social media lately. It comes after John Torode's businesses collapsed after racking up eye-watering debts.

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Gregg, who lost five stone in his fifties, has been promoting his health and fitness coaching recently. He's offering one-to-coaching for £200 a month, as well as a running a Healthy Fifty plan for men over the age of 50 that aims to help members "feel better and look fitter" for £11.99 per month.

He has since spoken about his decision to remain in the public eye. Gregg discussed his career in a video message that was uploaded to Instagram today, with him saying that he's "had to stay public" if he wants to "earn a living".

Gregg said in the video shared this morning: "Social media can be really cruel, really angry, really rude - but we all know this! I'm getting attacked by people that have never read the report into the investigation and think I'm guilty of all sorts of things that simply are not true."

He continued by telling viewers: "I had an autism diagnosis in January at 60 years old. I get attacked by people that somehow think I'm making it up. During this time, I've worked hard and got myself qualified as a PT. And I get attacked on that, where people think somehow it's not true."

Gregg added in the message: "Every day it's just a battle against people that, I don't know, just really wanna attack you. However, there are also loads and loads of people that send kind messages and messages of support."

Discussing why he hasn't shied away from the spotlight, he said: "And I could have hidden away. I didn't have to be on here. But I still want to earn a living and I decided with my family if I was gonna earn a living then I had to stay public."

Concluding the video, Gregg told viewers: "So thank you to all the people that are kind and for those of you that aren't, just consider the impact before you say something cruel. Before you say something angry. And also, please try and do a little bit of research before you get angry over something that isn't true. But for everybody else, thank you."

It had been announced last year that Gregg would step away from MasterChef whilst production company Banijay UK reviewed historical misconduct complaints. As reported at the time, through a lawyer, he said: "It is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature."

Then, last month, the BBC said it has "no plans" to work with him in the future" following the review into allegations about him. It said: "The investigation details a substantial number of allegations of inappropriate conduct spanning 19 years."

Gregg had already issued a statement about the Silkin's Report. He said in advance that it "exonerates" him of "all the serious allegations which made headlines last year and finds [him] primarily guilty of inappropriate language between 2005 and 2018."

He said in his statement released last month: "I recognise that some of my humour and language, at times, was inappropriate. For that, I apologise without reservation. But I was never the caricature now being sold for clicks."

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