Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has said she is “gutted” that the upcoming MasterChef Strictly Christmas special has been pulled following the accusations about Gregg Wallace.
The presenter has been accused of multiple claims of misconduct and making sexual comments to staff and guests, leading to him stepping away from the cooking show while an investigation is carried out.
Wallace intitially responded to the accusations by suggesting that they came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”, comments that were branded “inappropriate and misogynyistic” by Downing Street.
Wallace has since apologised for “any offence [caused]” by his remarks, saying he “wasn’t in a good headspace” when he made them.
The BBC has subsquently pulled the forthcoming Celebrity Masterchef Christmas Special. The planned Celebrity MasterChef Cook Off and a Strictly Festive Extravaganza, have now also been cancelled due to the “current circumstances”.
Dowden, 34, was among the professional dancers who were to feature in the Strictly Festive Extravaganza which was due to be part of the BBC’s December schedule.
Addressing the schedule change on ITV’s Lorraine, Dowden said: “I’m gutted about that. I did have a lovely time but obviously, I can’t comment any further because it is under investigation. But, yeah, I’m actually gutted.”
Dowden was due to appear on the Strictly Come Dancing-themed special alongside fellow professional dancers Gorka Marquez, Kai Widdrington and Nancy Xu.
Last week Banijay UK, the production company behind MasterChef, announced that Wallace would be “stepping away from his role on MasterChef” following complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct.
He has since faced a string of allegations of inappropriate behaviour, with BBC News reporting that one woman said he touched her bottom after an event and another said he pressed his crotch against her while filming on a different show.
His lawyers have previously strongly denied “he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”, according to BBC News.
Elsewhere in the interview, Welsh dancer Dowden revealed she has made elaborate Christmas plans for her whole family to dress as Gavin And Stacey characters to mark the show’s upcoming Christmas finale.
The beloved sitcom is returning to screens on Christmas Day five years on from Vanessa “Nessa” Jenkins (Ruth Jones) proposing to Neil “Smithy” Smith (James Corden) during a 2019 festival special.
Dowden said: “I think it’s going to be quite emotional because it’s the last one as well, as much as we’re looking forward to it. But my family, we love it.”
She explained the character Uncle Bryn, played by Rob Brydon, is so similar to her father that people asked if the role was based on him when the show launched, adding: “I’d come off the dancefloor and he’d go: ‘Oh, that was absolutely fabulous.'”
Dowden had returned for this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing after missing out last year while undergoing cancer treatment, but she had to withdraw last month after suffering an insufficiency stress fracture to her foot.
Her celebrity partner, JLS singer JB Gill, has been dancing with professional Lauren Oakley since Dowden’s injury, with the pair topping the leaderboard last Saturday with an almost perfect score of 39.
Dowden said she knew Gill had star quality the first time she danced with him, saying: “The first I took hold of JB and did a few steps, I knew he had the potential, the talent, the musicality, the groove in his body.
“I’m rooting for him, and I think he can be in that final.”
The Caerphilly-born dancer has documented both her cancer journey and living with Crohn’s disease on a number of BBC shows over the years.
Speaking about her Crohn’s disease to mark the condition’s awareness week, she said: “I think because it’s bowels, it’s guts, it’s ‘going to the toilet’ issues, people don’t want to talk about it, and I’ll forever do all I can to help break the stigma, raise awareness and get people talking about it.”
Crohn’s disease is a lifelong condition where parts of the digestive system become inflamed, with symptoms including diarrhoea, stomach aches and cramps and fatigue, according to the NHS website.
She revealed that at times during her cancer treatment people would forget about her Crohn’s disease but she still had to navigate potentially having flare-ups.
The dancer, who has had the condition since she was aged 11 but was diagnosed at 19, also praised Strictly for being the first job which did not “discriminate” against her over her Crohn’s disease.
She said: “They totally accepted it, put things in place to help me.
“I can remember when I got the job my parents saying: ‘Oh, do they know about your Crohn’s yet?’ because I had so many people reject me beforehand.”
Additional reporting by PA.
