Sandi Toksvig has suggested there are more scandals to emerge in the wake of the Gregg Wallace and Gino D’Acampo sexual harassment claims.
The QI host and former Bake Off presenter said the entertainment industry is still sexist and favours men for high-profile show positions.
She also claimed sexual misbehaviour has been more widespread than what has been publicly reported.
MasterChef judge and chef Wallace was forced to step away from the show after complaints about his behaviour surfaced last week.
And Italian chef D’Acampo is being ‘eased out’ by ITV following an accusation from a former co-worker amid claims he is a victim of ‘the MasterChef effect’.
Speaking on the Travel Diaries podcast, Toksvig said: ‘Lately, there’s more stories about bad behaviour. And, you know, I know of more stories that are yet to come which have not yet made headlines, but I suspect one day will.
‘So I’m afraid I don’t see massive changes. I would have liked to, but I don’t see it.’
Toksvig said that aside from any alleged inappropriate behaviour towards women, talented females still do not receive the same opportunities as their male counterparts.
Sandi Toksvig said the entertainment industry is still sexist and favours men for high-profile show positions
Gino has been complained about by a woman who worked with him for five years. He has also been accused of jokingly flashing and crew members on his show Emission Impossible with Fred Sirieix were reportedly offered counselling
Gregg Wallace has been forced to step down from his role as MasterChef host
Asked if she feels there has been progress towards equality in the British entertainment industry, the 66-year-old said: ‘It hasn’t really changed. We still don’t have the late-night chat show hosted by a woman.
‘I don’t know whether we can’t stay up that late – it interferes with our cycles.
‘I don’t know what the problem is. It’s still rare to be a woman in charge of a panel show. It’s not really a common thing.’
As one of the few panel show hosts, she said people are regularly asking her if she was terrified taking over from Stephen Fry on QI.
She said: ‘Mostly they say “Well, it must have been terrifying taking over from Stephen”. And you think ‘not really’. I’ve known Stephen since I was 19.
‘I didn’t really worry. But that’s the thing, it was almost like I was too presumptuous to dare to think that I might have read as many books as he has. So there’s still that.’
Female-led chat shows have been limited and relatively short-lived.
The Sarah Millican Television programme only ran for one year and was axed in 2013 despite winning praise from critics.
As one of the few panel show hosts, Sandi said people are regularly asking her if she was terrified taking over from Stephen Fry on QI
Viewers of Monday night’s MasterChef: The Professionals were left baffled after the show’s under fire judge Gregg Wallace barely featured
Gino D’Acampo, pictured with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, honours his promise to cook naked on This Morning if they won at the 2011 NTA Awards
Prior to that, Charlotte Church had a Channel 4 talk show for two years from 2006, and Caroline Aherne hosted The Mrs Merton Show as her comedy character in the 1990s.
In contrast, male counterparts Jonathan Ross, Graham Norton, Michael Parkinson, Alan Carr and Paul O’Grady have enjoyed decades long runs of their shows.
In the wake of the Wallace scandal, the BBC have decided to go ahead and broadcast the rest of Masterchef: The Professionals, which will conclude on December 12, and the two Christmas editions, while they await the conclusion of the investigation by production company Banijay.
It is understood that the BBC and Banijay have been scouring the forthcoming episodes of MasterChef that have yet to air for any sexually inappropriate comments by Wallace.
A BBC spokesman told the Mail: ‘MasterChef is life-changing for the chefs that take part and the show is about more than one individual.’
Wallace, 60, announced he was stepping back from MasterChef after nearly 20 years on Thursday while an investigation into his alleged misconduct is carried out.
He last week faced accusations of inappropriate behaviour from 13 people, including Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark, over a 17-year period across five shows from 2005 to 2022.
Wallace faces accusations he told a junior female colleague he wasn’t wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans, wandered into the studio naked apart from a sock on his penis and mimicked a sex act on a producer when she knelt down to clean his trousers.
Former Bake Off presenter Sandi also claimed sexual misbehaviour has been more widespread than what has been publicly reported
D’Acampo was quietly dropped from foodie travel show Gordon, Gino and Fred, on which he appeared alongside Gordon Ramsay and Fred Sirieix. Pictured: The trio in Galicia, Spain in 2023
Female-led chat shows have been limited and relatively short-lived – Caroline Aherne hosted The Mrs Merton Show as her comedy character in the 1990s
The latest allegations include one woman who said he groped her, another who claims he pressed his crotch against her while filming BBC show Eat Well For Less and a third who alleged he flashed her in his dressing room.
Despite this Wallace remains desperate to repair his reputation and the investigation’s findings are critical if he wants to continue appearing on screen.
And on ITV, D’Acampo is being ‘eased out’ by bosses are terrified of the scandal that has engulfed the BBC over Wallace.
On Tuesday, D’Acampo has been accused of harassment by a woman who worked with him at ITV for five years and allegedly claimed: ‘He said and did whatever he wanted’.
D’Acampo has been damned for inappropriate behaviour by the alleged victim when he was on This Morning and on Saturday Cooks between 2006 and 2011.
The TV chef is yet to comment on his future. But an insider has claimed that Gino sees himself as a ‘cheeky Italian chappy’ and there is no malice in his jokes or playful behaviour.
