The kind of inappropriate behaviour that MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace has been accused of will be very familiar to many working in the British TV industry. As researchers of working practices in the sector, we’ve encountered what can seem like an endless stream of stories of improper or abusive practices. Sadly, the underlying structures and cultures of the TV industry make such behaviour almost inevitable.
Wallace has been accused of inappropriately sexual behaviour, jokes and remarks during the making of his television shows by a number of women. His initial defence (for which he subsequently apologised) was that his accusers were “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”. His lawyers have also reportedly stated it is false that he engages in sexually harassing behaviour.
Several reports have drawn attention to working conditions within the UK television industry in recent months. In October the Guardian raised a litany of health and safety concerns across the sector.
