Gregg Wallace heartbreak: Tearful interview reveals suicide battle & mum’s death amid TV complaints

A month ago, Gregg Wallace cremated his mother. Mary Pettman, 80, suffered a fatal heart attack in her sleep as her son was overwhelmed by a tsunami of lurid allegations about inappropriate behaviour on BBC’s MasterChef. His mum could never really understand why people were, as she said, ‘picking on’ him. ‘She was always very proud of me. I’m her eldest and, of course, I was on the telly. I think it’s terribly sad that in the last days of her life she was reading horrible things about me and witnessing my disgrace,’ says Gregg, 60, who stepped down from MasterChef five months ago while complaints from 13 women about historical allegations of misconduct were investigated. The findings, which are expected to largely find in Gregg’s favour, will be made public next month. ‘Mum was a spiritualist. I was always sceptical but I’m really hoping she was right. I hope she’s up there looking down and sees my recovery.’ He struggles to control the tears that threaten to spill. None of this is easy for Gregg. He loved his mother ‘to bits’ and she always had his back. She was there for him when he was vilified for saying, in an incendiary online rant, that the allegations came from ‘a handful of middle-class women of a certain age’. So widespread was the outrage that even Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned Gregg’s words as ‘completely inappropriate and misogynistic.’ ‘Mum phoned and said, “Love, what’s going on? The Prime Minister’s talking about you. Who have you upset? Why are they picking on you?” ‘I said, “I’ve said something really stupid. They’re investigating my behaviour, but more and more people are coming forward with complaints about me. Mum, they’re not all true. I haven’t done these things.’ ‘She said, “I don’t believe you have.”’ Gregg, who until that point had only faced two complaints in a 20-year career that saw him work with as many as 4,000 contestants and crew on programmes such as MasterChef, MasterChef: The Professionals and Celebrity MasterChef, was at breaking point when he posted that video on Instagram shortly after stepping down. ‘I hadn’t slept for four days. The feeling of being under attack, of isolation, of abandonment was overwhelming. Nobody from the BBC contacted me once these stories started breaking – absolutely nobody at all. ‘News channels were updating hourly with new allegations. There was a tidal wave of abuse on social media, a dozen reporters outside the gate. You’re watching yourself get personally ripped apart, criticised, accused of all sorts of stuff over and over again. You’re thinking, “This isn’t true. It isn’t true. What’s coming next?” ‘You don’t sleep. Your chest races. Your body feels like it’s shutting down because it can’t cope with the levels of stress. You feel really dirty and horrible because everybody is saying you’re a pervert. ‘Women – big, respected personalities I thought I had a decent relationship with - were attacking me.’ Newsnight host Kirsty Wark, 70, accused Gregg of telling ‘sexualised’ jokes during the filming of Celebrity MasterChef in 2011. He maintains he was never aware that he had offended her until her complaint became public. ‘I thought we got on. She made it to the final three, so we were together for three months. I can clearly remember drinking champagne with her at the end of the show and sharing jokes. ‘I hadn’t seen the complaint so I didn’t know what it was. I thought, “What have I done?” I literally didn’t understand it.’ Other respected media figures, including broadcasters Vanessa Feltz, 63, and Kirstie Allsopp, 53, also made complaints. ‘Vanessa Feltz really knocked me for six. She had a story from a friend of hers who said she’d overheard me saying something sexual in a lift. I’ve always got on well with Vanessa. I’ve been on her show. We even swapped messages on social media. #GregWallace #masterchef #GreggWallace #MasterChefUK #InsideTheFactory #BBCFood #BritishTV #FoodDocumentary #GreggWallaceFans #FactoryTour #GreggWallaceCooking #UKTV #GreggWallaceDiet #GreggWallaceFitness #GreggWallaceShow #BBCDocumentary #FoodProduction Daily Mail Homepage: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ Daily Mail Facebook:   / dailymail   Daily Mail IG:   / dailymail   Daily Mail Snap:   / 8392137033   Daily Mail Twitter:   / mailonline   @DailyMail_news Daily Mail Pinterest: https://pinterest.co.uk/dailymail Get the free Daily Mail mobile app: https://dailymail.co.uk/mobile @DailyMail_News #wokeism #Woke #Cancelculture #cancelled