19 March 2023 , 17:21
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Gregg Wallace has revealed he's stepping back from presenter Inside The Factory after seven years as he wants to focus more of his attention on his autistic son.
Gregg, 58, will end his seven years on the show to be with his three-year-old, but admitted he has already filmed a number of episodes which are set to air in the near future.
Despite quitting the show which sees him delve into how goods are made, Gregg will continue to judge MasterChef.
Speaking on Gaby Roslin’s show on BBC Radio London, Gregg said he needs to step away from Inside The Factory young Sid, who is non-verbal in addition to his autism, needs additional support with education.
He described his son as a "lovely, lovely little boy" with a "wonderful mother" but admitted "it’s not easy".
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And Gregg added a key factor in his decision regarding the show was due to the fact it involves a lot of travelling away from his family so he can visit different factories across the country.
Gregg Wallace with his son Sid (Instagram)Gregg continued: "So I’ve made a decision that I’m actually not going to do Inside The Factory any more.
"It’s a good time to stop doing it because there’s actually 12 episodes in the can… so I wouldn’t have been filming for a while anyway so it just seemed like a good idea to stop it."
Gregg, who started as the original presenter of the BBC's long-running cooking show Saturday Kitchen, has also featured on popular shows such as Eat Well For Less, Turn Back Time, Harvest and Supermarket Secrets.
He shares son Sid with Anne-Marie Sterpini, who he married in 2016.
Gregg has presented the show for seven years (BBC/Voltage TV)Off-screen, Gregg is also running a health site called ShowMe.Fit while also focusing on his family.
The Celebrity MasterChef judge added: "Imagine a child that you can’t threaten or bribe and that’s basically what you’ve got.
"You’ve got a little boy who’s cuddly and happy and naughty, like any little boy would be, but he can’t speak, he can’t talk to you, so he gets frustrated because he finds it difficult to tell you what exactly it is he needs.
"Right now, we need to find education for him and I can’t just leave that to Anna – that’s a big, big decision.
"I mean, all parents worry about the schools that children will go to. Ours is even more highlighted because of poor little Sid’s issues."
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The BBC confirmed a new presenter for the show will be announced in due course.
Gregg was praised for his input in the show (BBC/Voltage TV)The corporation’s head of specialist factual, Jack Bootle, praised Gregg for his help in the show succeeding and said he had helped bring “humour, intelligence and genuine curiosity to one of the BBC’s biggest returning factual brands".
He added: "I’d like to thank him for all his hard work and commitment to the programme."
A new series of Inside The Factory presented by Wallace, Cherry Healey and Ruth Goodman will launch on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in April.