A MASTERCHEF contestant has told how Gregg Wallace thrust his groin into her face three times as she crouched behind the oven – in scenes edited outside the show.
Emma Phillips-Jennings, who was on the BBC cooking competition in 2009, said Wallace also made crude sexual jokes about meat.
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Emma Phillips-Jennings claims Gregg Wallace shoved his groin in her face three times while on MasterChefCredit: BBC
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Emma was on the BBC cookery competition in 2009. Credit: Dan Charity
Beauty therapist Emma, 42, was preparing a stuffed trout dish when she claims Wallace made his rude gestures.
BBC News has reported three new complaints against Wallace, 60, who has stepped down as host of MasterChef.
This is the second accusation of BBC presenter Wallace harassing the show’s contestants at their ovens after we reported he groped a woman while she was preparing her dish.
Meanwhile, young staff at the show are understood to have complained after Wallace allegedly held her head and pushed his body towards her, The Daily Telegraph reported.
READ MORE ABOUT GREG WALLACE
Clips from the episode in which Emma appeared before she was voted off show steam rising from the oven as she crouches in front of her.
Emma, then 29, said: “Gregg asked me how I learned to cook and if it was from my mother. I said: ‘No, because my mum is Jewish and she lived in a kibbutz where you have very complex jobs, and my dad was the cook in our family’. I said she hadn’t even seen raw meat until she met my father.
“As soon as I said that, Gregg then said, ‘Yeeeaaaah, and then he showed her his meat.’
“He then thrust his groin towards me three times while I was crouching by the oven.
I was amazed and found him disgusting. I was young
Emma
“It was a weak oven so that meant it was close to my face.
“I was completely taken aback. I was so shocked because he shouldn’t have said that – and no one said anything to him or pulled him over for it.
Guest MasterChef judge left in tears by Gregg Wallace’s sick sex joke
“He approached with the camera crew, but no one said anything.
“I was stunned and found it unprofessional and disgusting.
“He had no shame. I considered it belittling and humiliating, and he actually imitated my father, rushing at me. No one wants to think of their father that way.
“I was telling them something about my family and origins. He completely rejected it, this was recorded but not used.
“I was young and naive then, and this was a big moment in my life and he ruined it.
“I was furious when he made those comments. He was mean. I was not of a certain age at that time. I might have expected such ‘banter’ if I had appeared on Little Britain, but not on a cookery show.
“I haven’t watched an episode of MasterChef since.
“I can’t believe it took so long for things to come to light.
“I’ve been telling my friends about him for years and I’ve had loads of messages since the scandal broke saying I’m right.”
Emma, who runs a wellness company, made it through to the final 130 contestants out of 15,000 who auditioned and was excited when she arrived at the North London studio to film with Wallace and co-host John Torode.
Together with five others, she had 50 minutes to prepare and cook a dish of trout, potatoes, polenta, sugar snap peas, beets, eggs, broccoli and tomato puree.
She said: “When I walked into the studio I was a nervous wreck
“It was a big moment in my life and I was a single mother who had just gone through a divorce.
“It was a really important moment for me to feel empowered as a woman. But Gregg really surprised me.”
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Scenes edited out of series Credit: BBC
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Gregg has stepped down from his role on MasterChefCredit: BBC
Emma, from Herne Bay, Kent, says Wallace’s offending acts would have been caught on camera but believes MasterChef production company Banijay “edited it out to protect their star”.
She re-watched the episode to The Sun yesterday and said: “You can see how nervous I am. And I can see where they cut it before it happens. It still disgusts me to this day.”
Wallace praised Emma’s garlic mashed potatoes during the judging, but said her tomato puree was too sweet and too strong.
She also claims that Wallace joked that another contestant had cocaine up her nose.
She added: “When she said it was flour, he replied: ‘It should be cocaine or you’ll never make it as a chef’. I think he just wanted to show off, but I thought that was inappropriate as well.”
Emma said she decided to speak out after Wallace posted a message blaming “women of a certain age” for the complaints. He later apologized.
She said: “I was really shocked — it was like he didn’t see that he had done anything wrong.
There seems to be no accountability for his behavior, which I found disgusting
Emma
“There seems to be no accountability for his behavior, which I found disgusting.
“I don’t think he should have behaved like that towards a young and nervous contestant. It’s not about ‘awakening’ by complaining — it shouldn’t be that kind of program and it makes me wonder what kind of person he is.
“Women need to feel safe, and it just wasn’t an environment in which that could happen.”
Wallace left MasterChef, which he has hosted since 2005, last week following allegations that he made sexual comments towards staff and celebrity guests on a series of programs over 17 years.
He denied any conduct of a sexually harassing nature. Wallace is being investigated by MasterChef producers Banijay UK, who said they had no record of Emma’s complaint.
A spokesman said: “Banijay UK takes this matter incredibly seriously, but while the investigation is ongoing we will not be commenting on individual allegations.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We take any issues raised seriously and have robust processes in place to deal with them. “We are always clear that any behavior that falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated. “
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The beauty therapist said: ‘I was so shocked and nobody said anything to him or pulled him up about it’ Credit: Dan Charity
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Emma was preparing a stuffed trout dish when she claims Wallace made his rude gestures Credit: BBC
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