Gregg Wallace’s wife Annie-Marie, 38, looks dejected as she steps out for some fresh air after the MasterChef judge, 60, was dropped from festive TV schedule amid sexual misconduct storm

Gregg Wallace’s wife Annie-Marie looked dejected as she stepped out for some fresh air on Wednesday amid the storm surrounding her husband’s sexual misconduct scandal.

The MasterChef judge, 60, announced he was stepping back from the show after nearly 20 years last week while an investigation into his alleged misconduct is carried out.

Thirteen people including Newsnight host Kirsty Wark accused him of ‘wrong’ and inappropriate ‘sexualised’ behaviour during filming, including one allegation that he walked naked onto a set with only a sock on his penis. 

Three different women working in production have also accused Gregg of groping them on set.

Gregg’s wife Annie-Marie, 38, appeared downcast as she headed out without makeup and appeared to hide her wedding finger.

Annie-Marie, who shares four-year-old son Sid with Gregg, has not yet publicly addressed any claims made against her husband. 

Gregg Wallace’s wife Annie-Marie, 38, looked dejected as she stepped out for some fresh air on Wednesday amid the storm surrounding her husband’s, 60, sexual misconduct scandal

The MasterChef judge announced he was stepping back from the show after nearly 20 years last week while an investigation into his alleged misconduct is carried out

On Tuesday, it emerged Wallace has been dropped from the festive TV schedule after the BBC and Channel 5 cancelled episodes featuring him amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

The BBC has pulled its planned two MasterChef Christmas specials, which featured celebrities including The Wanted singer Max George, Emmerdale actor Amy Walsh, reality star Luca Bish and comedian Shazia Mira.

The second, called MasterChef Meets Strictly Festive Extravaganza, was due to feature Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden, Gorka Marquez, Kai Widdrington and Nancy Xu, with Motsi Mabuse setting a challenge. 

It is understood the celebrities involved are being spoken to about the reasons behind the change in programming, and that no changes will be made to iPlayer content.

The BBC previously said it would continue airing all filmed episodes of MasterChef, although the announcement on Tuesday appears to mark a major U-turn.

But the corporation said the celebrity Christmas specials are ‘obviously a different type of show’ as it justified its decision to axe them.

It comes after the BBC was criticised for showing a semi-final of the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals despite the ongoing storm surrounding its co-host Gregg.

The former greengrocer has stepped back from the BBC’s MasterChef while allegations into alleged misconduct are investigated. Gregg’s lawyers say ‘it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature’.

Gregg’s wife Annie-Marie appeared downcast as she headed out without makeup and appeared to hide her wedding finger

Annie-Marie stepped out without makeup and wore a black padded coat

Annie-Marie, who shares four-year-old son Sid with Gregg, has not yet publicly addressed any claims made against her husband (pictured together in 2020)

Gregg Wallace (pictured) last week stepped away from hosting the show after nearly 20 years. His absence comes while allegations of inappropriate comments he made towards staff and celebrity guests over 17 years are investigated 

At least 13 people have made a formal complaint against Wallace, while other celebrities and former contestants have also spoken about his alleged behaviour 

But in another blow for Gregg, Channel 5 has removed Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends Away from its streaming platform My5 after complaints of the presenter’s inappropriate behaviour during his time filming the show.

Channel 5 has also pulled planned repeats of Gregg Wallace’s Copenhagen Christmas Market and Gregg Wallace’s Lapland Christmas Adventure from its festive schedule.

Allegations were raised by staff members about Gregg’s behaviour on Channel 5′ s Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends during a BBC News investigation, with producer Rumpus Media saying was investigating allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’.

One woman said that while making Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends in 2019, he became ‘fascinated’ by her relationships with women and wanted to know the ‘logistics’ of her sex life.

Another woman said that while working on the Channel 5 programme at the same time, Wallace’s conversation often revolved around sex, including spanking and domination.

A third woman who worked on the show, who BBC News called Amanda, said Gregg allegedly showed her photos of a woman in her underwear while they were travelling in a car together.

She also recalled how he allegedly took off his top and said ‘let me give you a fashion show’ in front of her and a male colleague when trying on outfits in his hotel room after filming had wrapped for the day.

Her colleague then left the room and she told BBC News: ‘It’s weird to be alone in a room with a topless stranger.’

Another person who worked with him on Channel 5 travel show, claimed that he treated women dismissively.

Wallace co-hosted MasterChef for 17 years alongside John Torode (left) – yesterday, Wallace unfollowed Torode on social media 

She told The I: ‘I remember him being really unbelievably rude and obnoxious through the entire shoot. He was extremely rude and misogynistic… He would dismiss directions from the female producers.’

Channel 5 said it took the allegations ‘extremely seriously’ and that the production company Rumpus was looking into the claims. Rumpus said: ‘We do not tolerate inappropriate behaviour on our productions.’

It follows ongoing backlash after Gregg took to Instagram on Sunday with a furious rant in which he accused the allegations of being made by a handful of ‘middle-class women of a certain age’.

Gregg issued an apology on Monday for any ‘offence’ or ‘upset’ he caused with his statement over the weekend, saying: ‘I wasn’t in a good headspace when I posted it, I’ve been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion, I felt very alone, under siege yesterday when I posted it.’

He added: ‘It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out now while this investigation is under way. I hope you understand and I do hope you will accept this apology.’

His apology came after it sparked a backlash, with Downing Street saying his response to the accusations was ‘inappropriate and misogynistic’.

Others have branded the video a ‘classic’ non-apology.

The presenter apologised after his controversial comments on Instagram over the weekend caused another PR storm, blaming ‘a huge amount of stress’ and ‘a lot of emotion’ for the error.

The U-turn came hours after an insider told MailOnline he had ‘gone rogue’ and was ignoring ‘all advice’ about how to salvage his TV career following the scandal.

Gregg said: ‘I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I have caused to a lot of people’.

TV psychologist Jo Hemmings said: ‘When is an apology, not an apology? Gregg Wallace backtracking on his misogyny to salvage his career, but no regrets about his long-term inappropriate behaviour’.

A BBC spokesperson said: ‘As we have said, MasterChef is an amazing competition which is life-changing for the chefs taking part and the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals is continuing as planned.

‘The celebrity Christmas specials are obviously a different type of show and in the current circumstances we have decided not to broadcast them.’