Penny Lancaster has opened up about her experience with the disgraced BBC presenter Gregg Wallace, delving into the incident that prompted her husband Rod Stewart to launch a social media attack against the chef.
The cooking show presenter was recently embroiled in an investigation following allegations of misconduct, which he denied, with many accusations upheld by the probe's findings.
At the time, Mr Stewart shared a furious Instagram post directed at Mr Wallace, reading: "So Greg Wallace gets fired from MasterChef. 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."
Gregg Wallace was removed from BBC MasterChef
| BBCIn an interview with Vanessa Feltz on the presenter's Channel 5 show this week, Ms Lancaster was asked about the incident.
"One of the things that you went public with quite recently was Gregg Wallace, and Rod kind of exploded into the media saying 'he bullied my wife,'" Ms Feltz commented.
She went on: "He's tried to, sort of write back quite trenchantly about the whole thing, hasn't he?"
The former model, who has been married to Mr Stewart since 2007, replied: "Yeah, when that particular incident happened, it was during lockdown and it was on the cooking show, MasterChef."
Rod Stewart penned a furious defence of his wife Penny following the Gregg Wallace probe
| GETTYThe 54-year-old continued: "And I was so looking forward to that experience.
"And everything was wonderful, apart from the experience I had with Greg Wallace in one particular moment, without going into details, yes, I felt like I was bullied and harassed.
"And disappointingly, I didn't feel I was supported by the team, the production team at the time, but I kind of just buried it, and it stayed buried until the accusations came out more recently.
"And then Rod flew to social media in my defence, but I still wasn't prepared to kind of make it public in the media, but I spoke with the investigation team because I thought that was kind of the best way to go.
"And I think by people coming forward and speaking their story and their truth, no matter how historic an event is, collaborating together, building a strong case, you're going to have a better chance at the successful outcome."
"Do you think the right outcome has happened, that he's no longer presenting it?" Ms Feltz probed.
"Yeah, because it was an unpleasant experience. Not just because of my experience, but of course, many, many other women that have had to deal with far more serious accusations and incidents."
It is understood Ms Lancaster penned her memories of the incident in her memoir, Someone Like Me, Penny.
Penny Lancaster detailed how she felt 'bullied' by Gregg Wallace
|CHANNEL 5
The Sun reports that the book details how Mr Wallace had stolen a flower from her dish, which Ms Lancaster described as a "power play".
"Normally, Wallace wandered around the studio with a stuck-on smile, but all I could see now was a thunderous stare," she recalled.
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Penny Lancaster appeared on the MasterChef in 2021
| BBC"Then he marched over to my station with my tray and slammed it down. 'I'm the judge and I make all the decisions,' he said menacingly, before heading back."
She continued to describe how Mr Wallace then gave it back to her, but forced her to bend over to pick it up from the floor he'd dropped it on.