Penny Lancaster reveals husband Rod Stewart encouraged her to call out Gregg Wallace for her treatment on Celebrity MasterChef - after host stepped down amid misconduct probe

Penny Lancaster revealed her husband Sir Rod Stewart gave her the courage to call out Gregg Wallace for the way he treated her on Celebrity MasterChef.

BBC presenter Gregg, 60, stepped away from MasterChef last month after 13 people, including Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, accused him of 'wrong' and inappropriate 'sexualised' behaviour during filming. 

Penny's husband Sir Rod, 79, also issued a furious rant at Gregg calling him a 'tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully' for 'humiliating' his wife on the show. 

Now, during a recent instalment of Loose Women, Penny, 53, has claimed she would not have felt confident speaking up without her husband's support. 

The model, who has been married to the rocker for 17 years, told the Loose Women panel: 'Obviously it didn’t surprise me that my husband had done that and it didn’t surprise me about the incidents that Gregg Wallace has been accused of.' 

When asked if she would not have felt confident, Penny added: 'Exactly, yeah. That is why you so often hear historical cases and people kind of question why it takes someone so long to come forward.' 

'It is that bravery of "Maybe I am the only one? Maybe I won’t be taken seriously?" Then suddenly you have the backing and support of other people and you feel like you are going to be listened to.' 

Speaking about other women who have reached out to her, Penny said: 'In and around that conversation, yeah.' 

'I know a lot of people in the industry and it hasn’t really been a surprise to anyone.' 

'It is just a shame that so many women feel like they can’t reach out at the time because they don’t feel supported - so hopefully this will have more of a mark on the industry to protect and safeguard.'  

Fans of the show will remember Penny leaving Celebrity MasterChef in tears in 2021 after Gregg told her off with the 'serious' delay of her food and then refused to eat it.

Following Gregg's departure of the show, Rod issued a furious rant, saying: 'So Greg [sic] Wallace gets fired from Master Chef.'

'Good riddance Wallace... You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that bit cut out didn't you?'

'You're a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya. Sir Rod Stewart.'

MailOnline has contacted the BBC for a comment. 

As chaos filled the kitchen during her stint on the show, Gregg told Penny: ‘Mate, we can’t be 10 minutes late,’ calling her delay 'serious'.

Following Penny's eviction from the kitchen in 2021, she shared a cryptic post on Instagram hinting at 'a person's behaviour'. 

She wrote on Instagram at the time: 'When you finally learn that a person's behaviour has more to do with their own struggle than it ever did with you, you learn grace.'

Gregg has been accused of taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to 'give her a fashion show' and talking about his sex life to others.

On one occasion he allegedly told a junior female colleague he wasn't wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans.

The BBC has revealed that 13 people, including Kirsty, have complained about his conduct while working with him over a 17-year period across five shows, from 2005 to 2022.

Kirsty claims that on two occasions Gregg told stories and jokes of a 'sexualised nature' in front of contestants and crew while filming Celebrity MasterChef in 2011. She said his gags and comments were 'really, really in the wrong place'.

'There were two occasions in particular where he used sexualised language in front of a number of people and it wasn't as if anyone engaged with this. It was completely one-way traffic. But I think people were uncomfortable and something that I really did not expect to happen', she said.

The BBC claims that Gregg walked away from MasterChef last month after BBC News sent a letter to his agent, setting out allegations from 13 people and giving him a right of reply. 

They say he was warned after a complaint was raised in 2018, but new historical claims emerged over the summer of 2024.

Gregg is 'committed to fully cooperating throughout the process', the show's production company Banijay UK said. 

In October Gregg vehemently denied that he had made inappropriate sexual comments towards women, declaring that he would never 'flirt with' or 'hit on' another woman saying: 'I didn't say anything sexual'.

BBC News said they had been told of other allegations, including the presenter 'talking openly about his sex life, taking his top off in front of a female worker saying he wanted to 'give her a fashion show', and telling a junior female colleague he was not wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans'. 

Banijay has not revealed the nature of the allegations.

In a statement to the PA news agency Banijay UK said: 'This week the BBC received complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with presenter Gregg Wallace on one of our shows.'

'Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate.'

'While this review is underway, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully cooperating throughout the process.'

'Banijay UK's duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set.'

'Whilst these are historical allegations, incidences brought to our attention where these expectations are not met, are thoroughly investigated and addressed appropriately.'

The statement added: 'If anyone would like to talk to us or raise any issues or concerns, then they can contact [email protected] in confidence.'

The BBC has said it takes any issues that are raised with it 'seriously'.

A BBC spokesperson said: 'We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.'

'We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated.'

'Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them.'