Blade to the heart

The pair were both fired after a report into conduct on the cooking show upheld allegations against them, making their return bizarre in the extreme to critics of the BBC.

Meanwhile perhaps because of their fame (or notoriety!) Mr Wallace and Mr Torode are odds on to appear in the next edition of ITV’s ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’, and headlines about this, too, are likely to draw attention to what has happened, but are UNLIKELY to find favour with Mr Davie or executives at his huge organisation.

An independent report into Mr Wallace, led by law firm Lewis Silkin, found that 45 of 83 allegations were substantiated, with Mr Torode mentioned too although not by name.

Details of what has happened worry our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry who worked at the BBC for 23 years, and Mr Davie’s position looks increasingly untenable.

It seems, though, that taking disciplinary action against him is tempered by the knowledge that there are few alternatives.

The Sunday Times has said: ‘…one insider claimed Davie’s position with some board members was “more precarious”…”than people realise”‘. With the paper also publishing: “Since Davie got the top job in September 2020, the BBC has spent almost £10 million addressing scandals – equivalent to the licence fees of about 56,500 households at today’s annual £174.50 fee, according to Sunday Times analysis”.

As the paper has alluded to, there have been an incredible number of alarming incidents for the BBC.

It has now been revealed that Mr Torode is planning to sue the BBC over his dismissal. “John is preparing to launch the lawsuit against the BBC“, said an insider. “He wants to pursue them for unfair dismissal. He’s telling people there is no proof of his supposed comment. It was not in a work capacity, it was just hearsay. John is determined to clear his name”.

The unbelievable event of his sacking follows Mr Wallace also being shown the door at the BBC for allegedly using sexist language, as well as being guilty of inappropriate behaviour, and he has blamed his Autism.

The latest disclosures relating to the court appearances of Mr Blades, coincide with huge queries as well over the Glastonbury coverage of the BBC, and a contentious Gaza documentary.

In a statement before his dismissal which was posted on his Instagram page, Mr Torode elaborated on a racist allegations against him as well as others, but it has been insisted that there was “no recollection of the incident” and it’s been said that it wasn’t believed to have happened.

He commented: “Following publication of the executive summary of the investigation into Gregg Wallace while working on MasterChef, I am aware of speculation that I am one of the two other individuals against whom an allegation has been upheld.

“For the sake of transparency, I confirm that I am the individual who is alleged to have used racial language on one occasion.

“The allegation is that I did so sometime in 2018 or 2019, in a social situation, and that the person I was speaking with did not believe that it was intended in a malicious way and that I apologised immediately afterwards. I have absolutely no recollection of any of this, and I do not believe that it happened”.

Nevertheless he was fired, and a BBC spokesperson stated: “The BBC takes this upheld finding extremely seriously. We will not tolerate racist language of any kind and, as we have already said, we told Banijay UK, the makers of MasterChef, that action must be taken. John Torode’s contract on MasterChef will not be renewed“.

However he was informed soon afterwards: “Unfortunately we won’t be able to come to you tonight for a considered interview and do justice to the story and. for obvious reasons we won’t be able to offer a live interview tomorrow morning on radio”.

Afterwards a bemused Mr Evans told his followers online: “Yesterday I was offered an interview  on Radio Wales and BBC Wales News about the BBC process and my new show. I emailed the director of BBC Wales (at the time Rhuanedd Richards) to say I’d be delighted to do the interview ………weirdly after my email to the director they then emailed to say they didn’t have time to do it justice …..also for obvious reasons. I’m not sure what the obvious reasons are.”….

Perhaps the ‘obvious reasons’ refers to earlier controversies. He apologised over an obnoxious “spit-roast” comment  – but denied that it was a sex slur .

Apart from denying the remark, he gave details to the Sun on Sunday (SoS) of his “terrifying” mental collapse.

MailOnline (MO) followed up the extraordinary story, and said: “Strictly star Wynne Evans has broken his silence on his controversial ‘spit roast’ comment that left his career in tatters – claiming he was forced to apologise. The opera singer, 53, denied it was a sexual jibe about a female presenter – as he lifted the lid on the incident in an explosive new interview.”

But this is not the first time that Mr Evans has made the headlines. Video footage obtained earlier by the SoS, revealed that he apparently sent a sex toy to EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick. It was filmed just two days after Mr Evans was recorded making the vile “spit-roast” comment about pro dancer Janette Manrara, and sees Mr Borthwick explaining that the toy was sent to Birmingham’s Utilita Arena reception by Mr Evans.

The news about the incident broke after Mr Evans had been recorded crudely suggesting the three-way sex session with Ms Manrara during a photocall for the then forthcoming Strictly Live Tour. Mr Evans was forced to apologise soon afterwards, and declared that he had made an “inappropriate and unacceptable” remark.

The alarming details about the sex toy video presented challenging headlines for the BBC in UK newspapers, but the organisation has often made news for the wrong reasons.

The MoS has reported that the corporation must attempt “to recover from a string of scandals”, although it apparently does not wish to talk about them with us.

Queries were sent before Christmas but apart from automated messages saying the requests for information had been received, there has been no response whatsoever, even though they had directly followed the alarming business about Mr Wallace’s alleged behaviour.

Channel 5 was also examining accusations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by the presenter while making the programme ‘Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends’ in 2019.

More alleged ‘inappropriate behaviour’ came to light afterwards, and BBC News has reported about the corporation: “It’s the last thing it needs, so soon after other high profile scandals including the disgraced BBC News presenter Huw Edwards. The BBC has questions to answer about the allegations over what it knew about Wallace’s behaviour on and off set, and – if it was alerted to these types of allegations – what it did about them. BBC News has been made aware of two occasions when complaints were made. One, by the radio host Aasmah Mir, related to Celebrity MasterChef in 2017.”

One Welsh former senior executive with the corporation said to us earlier: “The BBC is attempting to display decisiveness after the Huw Edwards & Savile scandals to help restore its public image. It’s cosmetic. 

All of this came on the back of many other terrible events where the BBC has hit the headlines.

We have had the Amanda Abbington/Giovanni Pernice incident on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, involving accusations of bullying and harassment.

There has also been the One Show and Match of the Day (MotD) presenter Jermaine Jenas episode, where once again there have been allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’, with reports saying, for example, that one female member of staff received unsolicited communications via text from him.

We have been treated to the Huw Edwards and Jimmy Savile scandals (which the former executive mentioned), with the full extent of what Savile did only emerging relatively recently.

All of these incidents have prompted front page news about the BBC in UK papers. The allegations concerning Mr Wallace may be the latest, but we’ll start with the information about Ms Abbington – the BBC says it assessed and “upheld some, but not all” of her complaints about her time on Strictly, after she pulled out of the show last year and claimed later that there was a “toxic environment”, as well as that she had been subject to “inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying”.

In saying sorry, the enormous corporation proclaimed: “We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made. We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do”.

It also said in the apology statement that the BBC expects “…very high standards…”, so critics are entitled to ask why they apparently do not exist in the Media Office (MO), especially after the Mr Evans affair.

Mr Jenas, too, faced claims of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ and was sacked from the BBC over allegedly sending the ‘unsolicited’ texts to junior members of staff. Reports have claimed that one female worker received unsolicited communications via text from him which were supposedly ‘flirty’. Others then came forward according to The Sun. However, the source added there was “no suggestion of illegality” on Mr Jenas’s part. 

We have also had Russell Brand. He was granted bail after appearing in court charged with sexual offences including rape (as with Mr Blades).

He is charged with the rape of a woman in 1999 in the Bournemouth area, who alleges that after meeting him at a theatrical performance and chatting to him later in her hotel room, she returned from the toilet to find he’d removed some of his clothes. She claims he asked her to take photos of him, and then raped her.

The court also heard of another alleged victim, who has accused him of indecently assaulting her in 2001 by “grabbing her arm and dragging her towards a male toilet” at a TV station.

He is also accused of the oral rape and sexual assault of a woman he met in 2004 in London, who has accused him of grabbing her breasts before allegedly pulling her into a toilet. The final complainant is a radio worker who has raised the accusation of being sexually assaulted between 2004 and 2005 by enduring “kissing” and “grabbing” of her breasts and buttocks.

The comedian, actor and author has denied all the accusation, saying that he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.

After everything that has happened, it seemed reasonable, therefore, to ask the BBC which programmes could not now be transmitted.

This is the (extremely polite) request Phil put to their MO on December 19, and he was encouraged because on the BBC’s website it is declared: “Enquiries from journalists will be responded to as quickly as possible”.

Hello.

I am Editor of a news website called The Eye.

Could you please answer the following questions:

1. In the light of the Gregg Wallace, and other affairs, what, if any, programmes are now not to be transmitted, and how many of them are there?

2. What, if any, changes have been made to your Whistleblowers’ Charter, and what are the dates of these?

3. What, if any, changes have been made to your safeguarding policies, and what are the dates of these?

Statements can be made by return to this address – it is checked constantly and is totally secure.

Thank you,

Phil Parry 

To date, though, there has been NO reply apart from two automated messages saying that the requests had been received.

Perhaps these questions are too tricky to answer, when a court case hits the news of one their stars accused of rape…

The memories of Welshman Phil’s astonishing decades long award-winning career in journalism (including his years at the BBC), as he was gripped by the rare neurological disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in the book ‘A Good Story’. Order it now.

Tomorrow – how during that career, for Phil seeking accurate information has always been paramount, but today comes a radically new way of doing it – through Artificial Intelligence (AI).