Gregg Wallace, the beloved presenter of MasterChef, has found himself embroiled in controversy after a former contestant, Nawamin Pinpathomrat, spoke out against his alleged offensive behavior on set. Pinpathomrat, a Thai academic who appeared on the show in 2018, claims that Wallace made racist comments and “British jokes” that left him feeling excluded and patronized.
“He’s not my friend, he’s not my parents so I just don’t let that negativity bring me down,” Pinpathomrat remarked, expressing his disappointment as a long-time viewer of the show. “I am just feeling a bit disappointed, shall we say, because I grew up watching MasterChef.”
Pinpathomrat recounted how Wallace allegedly made comments like “me so horny” and “me sucky sucky,” which he described as “definitely racist.” He also criticized Wallace for making “British jokes” that often went over his head, making him feel foolish on camera.
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“I can communicate with simple English [but] when they try for example to say a British joke or slang, obviously I couldn’t respond so I came across as funny or a little bit stupid,” Pinpathomrat explained. “A few times I couldn’t actually understand him so I had to say, ‘say it again’ or ‘say it another way’.”
He added, “If you came to Thailand and you wanted to speak Thai, I would try my best to communicate with you with simple Thai… But for me, I’ve come on this show and you’ve tried to be very British and to patronise people a little bit. I didn’t feel good about it to be honest.”
These allegations come after a former production team member filed a formal complaint against Wallace, claiming he made “offensive and racist Asian jokes” to the crew when Pinpathomrat was off set.
The BBC, which airs MasterChef, responded to the allegations, stating: “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.”
Banijay UK, the production company behind MasterChef, has launched an external review into the matter, and Wallace has stepped away from his presenting role while the investigation is underway.
