Gregg Wallace 'deeply saddened' by backlash and defends relationship with family
Gregg Wallace is "deeply hurt" at the backlash over his Saturday regime where he was quoted saying he "wouldn't have chosen" to have his son.
The MasterChef judge, 59, was visibly upset as he spoke for the first time of his shock at the reaction to the broadsheet magazine article which has been viewed millions of times online and saw him trend on Twitter for most of this week. He insisted he lived in a house "filled with love" despite people queuing up to criticise him on social media.
The interview format sees celebrities detail what they do at different times on 'My Saturday', but it is only a snapshot of a real day. Gregg's included breakfast with his PA at a Harvester, which has seen him compared to Alan Partridge. He also mentioned sections of his day spent playing with his autistic son Sid and playing computer games.
Gregg Wallace and his wife Anne-Marie Dallaglio share a young son together (Joe Pepler/REX/Shutterstock)
The TV chef is 'deeply hurt' by the claims he doesn't spend much time with his son (Instagram/greggawallace)Gregg said: "I didn't mind the mickey taking about Alan Partridge, that I understood. But I was deeply saddened by the idea I didn't spend any time with Sid, I was deeply hurt by that. And I'm also a little bit concerned about society at large right now where mass online bullying seems to be some sort of crazy spectator sport.
"You play with your son in the garden. You make dinner for your family and you've played on a computer game, but all of a sudden some people were calling me a monster. You're taking the blocks of time out. You give a whole interview and the blocks are taken out. That's not all of your time. It doesn't say I sat with my mother in law and had tea.
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"It doesn't say crawling around on the floor of the living room tickling Sid whilst Anna giggled, because it's not every minute of the day. You're picking chunks out. I was up at five that morning. Do you know why? Because Sid was up at five that morning."
Gregg has also spoken in past interviews about how he was not planning on having another child until he met his wife, who is 22 years his junior. She wanted to have a family and their relationship blossomed and so he agreed to the change of plan for his life.
Gregg will be handing out free roses in London this weekend as part of a Valentine's Day celebration (Joe Pepler/PinPep)Gregg added: "I fell madly in love with Anna. I had never met anybody like that. And we had a conversation early on where she said 'you do realise that I'm gonna want to get married and have a baby. That's what I want'. And I said to her, 'I wouldn't have chosen at my age to have a child. I was a single parent [in the past after previous marriage].
"'However, I perfectly understand your position as a young woman and I love you madly, so I'm more than happy. Let's have a child.' Now, journalists know that and it's easy to research that and find that. So to wilfully misrepresent, that is dishonest and spiteful. It's just not fair and it is not right."
Hitting back at other critics who have quotes from the article, Gregg also explained it was wife Anna's choice to live with her mum and not to work while he is working the majority of the week, and the setup is similar to some families in Italy where Anna is from.
This weekend romantic Gregg will be giving away roses in London as part of a Valentine's Day promotion with Smarty Mobile who have found Brits are fed up with price surges on gifts like roses ahead of Valentine’s Day in new research. Gregg has bought wife Anne-Marie, who he affectionately calls Anna, cashmere socks and perfume for February 14 and says couples can cook a nice meal at home on the night to save money.
He said: "I'm totally in love with Anna but I have had failed relationships so I am probably not one to give romantic advice. But I think listening to one another is important and a desire to be together. That could just be a walk, but it is making time to be together."
Gregg has been filming this week but will drive home tonight for dinner with Anna and his mother-in-law. Despite the online criticism this week he said: "It is a house filled with love. We will make dinner tonight and there will be a bottle of wine and probably some dancing in the kitchen."
- Smarty Mobile will be giving away roses at Observation Point, on London's Southbank on Sunday (February 11) 12-3pm, helping would-be romantics looking to fall back in love with Valentine’s Day without price rises.
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