Some might have thought that Gregg Wallace’s goose had been conclusively cooked when he was sacked by the BBC this summer – and then flambeed by Sir Rod Stewart’s wife, Penny Lancaster, for his ‘belittling behaviour’ as a MasterChef presenter.
But Wallace is fizzing and fighting, as he promised he would after 45 allegations out of 83 against him – many of inappropriate sexual language and one of unsolicited physical contact – were upheld following an independent investigation.
I can now disclose details of the legal action that four-times married Wallace, 60, promised to bring against the BBC in the aftermath of his dismissal.
Documents filed in the High Court record that, back in March, when his BBC future was in the balance, he submitted two requests, one to the BBC and the other to its subsidiary, BBC Studios Distribution.
Both were for the personal data they held about him, with regard to ‘his work, contractual relations and conduct, spanning across 21 years’.
In his claim, Wallace alleges that the BBC classified his request as ‘complex’ and explained that it needed two months more than the one month usually required to comply with such requests.
BBC Studios replied that it would ‘endeavour to respond’ within a month.
But, alleges Wallace, ‘nothing was received’ from the BBC, while BBC Studios ‘stated that parts of [Wallace]’s personal data were being withheld due to ‘freedom of expression’.
Gregg Wallace, 60, promised to bring legal action against the BBC in the aftermath of his dismissal – and is asking for damages of up to £10,000 for distress and harassment
Wallace also alleges that BBC Studios censored details about who had been privy to his personal information during its ‘processing and handling’.
The BBC declines to comment.
Wallace wraps up his first legal offering by seeking an order forcing the BBC to comply with his requests – and pay him damages of up to £10,000 for distress and harassment.
Boy George pays a record price for coat
Boy George declared earlier this year: ‘I’m working hard to pay off my debts and am getting there.’
The Culture Club singer, 64, had accrued £1.8 million of debt after a legal battle over money with his former bandmate and 1980s lover, Jon Moss.
Clearly, George still has some spare cash, as I hear he’s splashed out £3,950 on an Anthro Armour jacket by Benedict Lamb.
It’s a record price for an item at Soho’s Light House boutique and private members’ club.
The Light House is led by Joe Corre, co-founder of lingerie brand Agent Provocateur and son of the late Dame Vivienne Westwood.
George reportedly splashed out £3,950 on an Anthro Armour jacket by Benedict Lamb
Sons ‘ghost’ Denise over racy shots
Dame Denise Lewis’s photo-shoot for lingerie and sexual ‘wellness’ brand Coco de Mer may have boosted her bank balance, but it’s embarrassed her teenage sons.
‘I’ve been ghosted,’ she tells me jokingly, using the slang term for ceasing all contact with someone without explanation.
Her sons are 19 and 16. ‘I know they’ve seen the pictures,’ the Olympic gold-winning heptathlete and former BBC pundit says at the launch party at Langan’s in Mayfair, attended by Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly, left.
Denise, 53, adds: ‘I know their friends have seen it and have been giving them hell.’
Dame Denise Lewis’s photo-shoot for lingerie and sexual ‘wellness’ brand Coco de Mer may have boosted her bank balance, but it’s embarrassed her teenage sons.
How Liz put a song in Billy Ray’s heart
Six months since she made her romance with musician Billy Ray Cyrus public, Elizabeth Hurley reveals he’s composed a romantic ditty in her honour.
‘He has written a song,’ the actress, model and businesswoman confirms. ‘It’s about finding happiness.’
Attempts by the American country star, 64, to teach the guitar to Liz, 60, remain challenging, however.
‘I’m not a very good student,’ she admits. ‘You have to keep your nails incredibly short.
‘It’s quite hard, I always thought it looked quite easy.’
With the couple known to be keen birdwatchers, Hurley also clarifies: ‘But not so much starlings and chaffinches, we love birds of prey. We get our long lenses and binoculars and watch birds of prey all day.’
Van Outen reveals her secret sausage stash
Queen Elizabeth used to carry in her Launer handbags a compact, lipstick, some tissues, mints and treats for her corgis. TV presenter Denise Van Outen keeps a sausage roll or sandwiches in hers.
‘I always panic that I might run out of food,’ she explains. ‘I’ve always lived in the country and I had to travel into London.
‘I’d be on a broken-down train or a coach and think, “I haven’t got anything to eat”.
‘So everywhere I go I take an emergency supply of food. I took sausage rolls to the National Television Awards.’
TV presenter Denise Van Outen revealed she has a sausage roll or sandwiches in her handbag
King Charles’ cousin Lady Sarah Chatto, a keen artist, has donated one of her colourful paintings to an online auction for the charity Horatio’s Garden, which creates serene outdoor spaces for people living with severe spinal injuries.
The charity is named after Eton pupil Horatio Chapple, who was killed by a polar bear aged 17 during a holiday in Norway.
Lady Sarah, 61, says: ‘I am delighted to be able to help raise vital funds for people facing life-changing injuries.’
