Gregg Wallace has responded to the comments he has faced after revealing his typical weekend routine.
Readers were baffled by the TV chef’s remarks on topics such as his relationship with his autistic son, Sid, his gym habits and more.
It came as the 59-year-old penned a column for The Telegraph’s My Saturday segment and a flood of responses mocking what he’d written were posted to social media.
Among the criticism on social media site X were critics who accused Wallace of “not caring” about spending time with his four-year-old son as well as others who branded him “obnoxious”. However, the MasterChef has been defended by many in light of the furore.
On Wednesday, the MasterChef star appeared tearful as he labelled the remarks he’d received as “cruel,” and “unfair”.
“There are just two things I want to address here with Sid,” he began. “People said 'So you spend an hour and a half with your son, but then spend two hours on your computer'.
Gregg Wallace hit back at 'cruel' remarks he'd received
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“No - I'm with my son in the house all the time. I just didn't write down 'Had a tickle with Sid, playing around the living room' - you're not logging every minute of the day.
“I just logged the blocks. So, it didn't mean that's all I saw him that day.”
He went on: “If you're living in a house with someone, you're interacting with them all the time. Not only that - that is a snapshot of one Saturday. I hope that makes sense to everybody.
“And the other thing as well - and I'm almost going to cry over this - people saying that Sid was unwanted. It took us two years to conceive with Sid. Two years.”
The MasterChef star hit back at comments on his Instagram account
ITV
Wallace had explained how his wife Anna, who is 22 years younger than him, had wanted to have a family but he wouldn’t have chosen to have children at his age until he met her.
Wallace has two older children, 29-year-old Tom and 26-year-old Libby with his ex-wife, Denise.
He confessed in the column from the weekend: “I’m a much better father now I'm older, although another child isn't something that I would have chosen at my age.
“I was always very honest with Anna, but it's what she wanted and I love her.
“I just requested two things – that we had help in the house (so her mum moved in), and secondly that we had at least one week a year when we holidayed just the two of us.”
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Gregg Wallace faced a huge reaction after his column was published
ITV
Those commenting on the column likened the routine to Steve Coogan's comedy character, Alan Partridge.
Elsewhere in the column, Wallace reported that he doesn’t usually have a lie-in, waking up at 5am before spending an hour reading.
He then detailed how his next steps include making a coffee and checking the sign-up numbers for his health programme before heading to the gym.
He even admitted he persuaded gym staff to open half an hour early during weekends for him – a statement readers clung to while poking fun at the routine when it began trending on X.
