Gregg Wallace – whose show, Masterchef is on tonight (Monday, May 6) – has shared his sadness over the “cruel and unfair” comments about his son Sid following his recent column.
Dad-of-three Gregg, 59, shares his youngest child Sid – born in 2019 – with wife Anne-Marie. The MasterChef star stepped back from Inside The Factory after seven years to spend more time at home with their four-year-old, who is non-verbal and still in nappies.
However, after a column went viral earlier this year, Gregg was forced to speak out over “bad dad” accusations and “cruel” comments about his son.
Gregg Wallace slammed by fans as ‘not caring’ about son
In February, Gregg wrote a piece about his Saturday routine for The Telegraph which has since gone viral – with people accusing him of “not caring” for his son.
He listed things like working out and eating but he also appeared to suggest he only spends 90 minutes with son Sid – before playing video games for hours. Gregg also ruffled a few feathers after confessing: “I’m a much better father now I’m older, although another child isn’t something that I would have chosen at my age.
“I was always very honest with Anna, but it’s what she wanted and I love her. I just requested two things – that we had help in the house (so her mum moved in), and secondly that we had at least one week a year when we holidayed just the two of us.”
‘That is a snapshot of one Saturday’
Following the uproar, MasterChef star Gregg spoke out over the “cruel, nasty and unfair” comments.
During an Instagram Live, he said: “There are just two things I want to address here with Sid. People said: ‘So you spend an an hour and a half with your son, but then spend two hours on your computer.; No – I’m with my son in the house all the time.
“I just didn’t write down ‘had a tickle with Sid, playing around the living room’ – you’re not logging every minute of the day. I just logged the blocks. So it didn’t mean that’s all I saw him that day. If you’re living in a house with someone, you’re interacting with them all the time. Not only that – that is a snapshot of one Saturday.”
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‘I’m almost going to cry over this’ says Gregg Wallace
Gregg went on: “I hope that makes sense to everybody. And the other thing as well – and I’m almost going to cry over this – people saying that Sid was unwanted. It took us two years to conceive with Sid. Two years.”
The celebrity chef then went on to say he was “deeply saddened” by the reaction by the column – branding it as “innocent”.
MasterChef airs tonight (Monday, May 4) at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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