Gregg Wallace facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gregg Wallace
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Wallace judging at MasterChef Live in 2010
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Gregg Allan Wallace
17 October 1964 Peckham, London, England
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| Years active | 2002– |
| Employer | BBC |
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| Children | 3 |
Gregg Allan Wallace MBE (born 17 October 1964) is a well-known English TV presenter, businessman, and writer. He is famous for being a judge on the cooking shows MasterChef, Celebrity MasterChef, and MasterChef: The Professionals. These shows are shown on BBC One and BBC Two. Gregg has also written for food magazines like Good Food and Olive. He stopped presenting MasterChef in 2024.
Early Life and Business
Gregg Allan Wallace was born in Peckham, South London, on 17 October 1964. He left school when he was 15 years old. His first job was working in a warehouse at Covent Garden Fruit and Veg Market.
He started by selling vegetables at a market stall. Later, he became a salesman. In 1989, Gregg decided to start his own company called George Allan's Greengrocers. This business grew very big.
Gregg also opened restaurants. In 2010, he opened Wallace & Co in Putney, London. He was one of the people in charge of the restaurant. In 2012, he opened another place called Gregg's Bar & Grill in Bermondsey Square. Both of his restaurants later closed down.
Broadcasting Career
Gregg Wallace started his TV and radio career by co-presenting a show called Veg Talk on BBC Radio 4. He worked on this show for seven years.
From 2002, Gregg was the first presenter of Saturday Kitchen. He also presented Veg Out for the Discovery Channel. Another show he hosted was Follow That Tomato for The Food Channel. This show won an award in 2003 for being the Best Lifestyle Programme.
In 2013, Gregg started co-presenting Eat Well for Less? with Chris Bavin on BBC One. This show helps people learn how to buy food more wisely. From 2015 to 2023, he also co-presented Inside the Factory on BBC Two. On this show, he explored how different foods are made in large factories.
Gregg presented Supermarket Secrets in 2013. This BBC One show looked at how supermarkets get and distribute their food. He also co-presented Harvest 2013. This documentary followed the progress of Britain's harvests. In 2016, Gregg presented a new version of the historical game show Time Commanders for the BBC.
In 2019, Gregg presented Gregg Wallace's Magical Christmas Market on Channel 5. It was filmed in Vienna, Austria. He also presented a travel series called Big Weekends with Gregg Wallace. This show featured cities like Barcelona. In 2021, Gregg presented South Africa with Gregg Wallace on ITV. In this series, he visited many interesting places in South Africa.
MasterChef
Gregg Wallace was a co-presenter and judge on the BBC cooking show MasterChef for many years. He worked alongside John Torode from 2005 to 2024. In December 2024, food critic Grace Dent took over his role.
In 2018, Gregg made a comment about a dish called chicken rendang on MasterChef. He said the chicken was "not crispy enough". This comment caused a lot of discussion in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. People pointed out that rendang is a stewed dish, meant to be soft and tender, not crispy.
Guest Appearances
Gregg Wallace has appeared on many other TV shows. In 2007, he was on the BBC singing contest Just the Two of Us. He sang with professional singer Carol Decker.
In 2012, Gregg was featured on the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?. This show explores people's family history. In 2014, Gregg was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing. He danced with professional partner Aliona Vilani. He left the show in the second week.
Personal Life
Gregg Wallace has been married four times. He married his first wife, Christine, in 1991. He has two children with his second wife, Denise Lovell.
In 2010, he married Heidi Brown. He met his current wife, Anne-Marie Sterpini, online in 2013. They got married in August 2016. His MasterChef co-host, John Torode, was his best man at the wedding. Anne-Marie gave birth to their first child in 2019. Gregg has spoken about being an older parent. In 2022, his son was diagnosed with autism.
In 2022, Gregg Wallace was given an award called Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). This award was for his contributions to food and charity work. Gregg supports Millwall Football Club. He has been a fan since he was a child. He also used to be a rugby coach for a team of under-15s.
