Gregg Wallace defends selling £37 video messages on Cameo to 'earn money' and insists he 'takes great pride in them' after MasterChef sacking left him with financial woes

Gregg Wallace has defended selling £37 video messages on Cameo to 'earn money' after being left struggling financially by his MasterChef sacking.

The star was dismissed by the BBC after an investigation into 83 historical allegations of workplace misconduct, with 45 of those accusations subsequently upheld.

Gregg has since tried to sue the BBC, and last year it was revealed he was selling video messages to fans on the sharing site Cameo.

The former greengrocer has now taken to Instagram to hit back at criticism around the move, saying he takes 'great pride' in the videos he makes for his fans.

Sharing a snap of himself, Gregg captioned the post: 'Cameo Messages - yes, I earned money from them and they really did help us out when I lost my job. 

'But I genuinely love doing them and I take great pride in them. You can see that from my five star reviews.'

Gregg Wallace has defended selling £37 video messages on Cameo to 'earn money' after being left struggling financially by his MasterChef sacking

Gregg was previously forced to apologise to fans who were paying up to £150 a month for personalised fitness coaching classes - which he had stopped giving.

He promised to personally train clients to improve their 'wellness' - with the implication that they could repeat his own physical transformation in which he lost five stone in weight and toned up considerably.

But the Daily Mail learned that customers who forked out £150 per month on the promises of weekly hour-long group coaching sessions hosted by Wallace and admission to a private WhatsApp group to discuss their health regimes with the star have been left disappointed.

Frustrated customers voiced their disappointment with a flurry of one star reviews on Tripadvisor complaining they have been charged but are unable to get a response from Wallace or his team.

After the Daily Mail contacted GreggWallace.Health, a spokesman said: 'I would like to apologise that this [1-2-1 coaching with Gregg] was still available as an option to purchase on the website.

'This should have been removed as we no longer offer this service on GreggWallace.Health.'

Gregg was sacked by the BBC after an investigation into 83 historical allegations of workplace misconduct, with 45 of those accusations subsequently upheld. 

He later attempted to sue the BBC and BBC Studios Distribution Limited for up to £10,000 in damages over allegations they failed to disclose his personal data, which caused him 'distress and harassment', before dropping his claim in February. 

The star was dismissed by the BBC after an investigation into 83 historical allegations of workplace misconduct, with 45 of those accusations subsequently upheld

The former greengrocer has now taken to Instagram to hit back at criticism around selling his videos, saying he takes 'great pride' in them

Gregg has since claimed his lawyers believe the broadcaster 'infringed his human rights' by asking the public to come forward and complain about him.

Last week one fan tweeted the former TV star, who earned an astonishing £400,000 a year at the BBC, saying: 'You can work through your reputation damage.'

'A lot of people thought you were hard done by for being found guilty of the complaint by women contestants. Very dodgy at the same time hundreds complained.' 

'Actually, no complaints from any staff over 20 years of filming. BBC actually asked the public to come and complain. My lawyers think that may even be an infringement of human rights,' Wallace wrote back, adding: 

'Lawyer says the decision to invite anybody who had ever met you over 20 years to come forward and complain may be an infringement of human rights. Nobody has ever been treated like this before.'

Another user responded: 'Doubling down as always, Gregg, wasn't that long ago you were apologising on an interview now you've done nothing wrong. Give it a rest,' to which Wallace said: 'Oh, you've misunderstood. I apologised for any offence I may have unknowingly caused.'

Wallace, who co-hosted MasterChef with John Torode, 61, for nearly 20 years, failed to explain if he is considering further legal action.

It was announced in November 2024 that Wallace would step away from his role while the misconduct allegations were investigated.

A review by law firm Lewis Silkin later upheld 45 of the 83 allegations against him, which mostly occurred between 2005 and 2018 and included one of 'unwelcome physical contact'.

It said the 'majority of the substantiated allegations against Wallace related to inappropriate sexual language and humour', adding that 'a smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated'.

He issued an apology saying he was 'deeply sorry for any distress caused' and that he 'never set out to harm or humiliate'.

In a Substack post shared in January, he claimed the investigation process was 'not a legal one' and that 'the standard of proof would not stand up in a court of law', comparing it instead to an internal human resources (HR) process.

He alleged an 'open invitation' was sent out asking anyone who had 'ever worked with me (or met me) to come forward and tell their stories' after his reputation was already 'being dragged through the mud'.

Wallace pointed out that he had interacted with 'tens of thousands of people' over his career, including six new contestants every filming day, changing film crews, other show participants, and attendees at charity events and industry parties.

Since his sacking, Wallace has been earning money through Cameo, flogging personalised videos.

In May, Gregg insisted that he 'doesn't need' to sell his £1million mansion, despite putting the property on the market following his MasterChef axe.

He said while he may not be as wealthy as he once was, he was continuing to earn money through personalised video site Cameo to pay all bills.

He said: 'People are going to say "Well you wouldn't be selling [your house] if you were still earning all that money from the television and that's probably true, but I am not,'

'And people say "Well you have to sell" well no I don't it's been two years since I've earned any money from the television and thankfully I'm working and earning a living and paying the bills'.

He went on to explain that he and wife Anne-Marie with whom he shares Sid, who is autistic, could move to an equally big house 'somewhere cheaper' but he no longer wanted to pay to upkeep such a large property.

'I am in my sixties, I want to create a lifestyle that's easily affordable and all of the pressure is off, that feels to me like comfort.'

He captioned the post: 'It was Cameo that enabled us to cover all the bills so for those of you that booked a message.'