Greg Wallace suspended

MissInterpreted

I agree. I used to work beside a man who was a total sexist, misogynistic creep. At the time, I was still very young and the only girl in our office. Almost every day, he would make horrible comments about women and was just generally sleazy. One day I did pluck up the courage to say something to my immediate boss, and it was brushed off with 'oh, that's just how he is, he doesn't mean anything by it' and words to that effect. That's just how it was then. Hopefully things will change.

That type of man, like the one in your office, is - to my admittedly untutored mind (untutored in the field of psychology) - little more than a plain old misogynist who deals with his own inadequacies by denigrating women with whom, probably, he's not had much success. It possibly gives a sense of power that he doesn't have in real life.

" 'oh, that's just how he is..."

... that's exactly how 'he is', and we instinctively very much know what he means by it!

Now John Torrode has come out and said that he did complain about Gregg Wallace's comments but if anything was said to GW, it made no difference.

The woman who wrote GW's book said that she had to sign an NDA, and many people were tied by contracts/worried about losing their jobs, so didn't feel able to speak out at the time. I am fed up with reading criticism of these women.

I agree. I used to work beside a man who was a total sexist, misogynistic creep. At the time, I was still very young and the only girl in our office. Almost every day, he would make horrible comments about women and was just generally sleazy. One day I did pluck up the courage to say something to my immediate boss, and it was brushed off with 'oh, that's just how he is, he doesn't mean anything by it' and words to that effect. That's just how it was then. Hopefully things will change.

petra

Dickens
what do you think
I think you could put that post up every day, every hour and you will not change peoples minds.
All we can do is educate our grandchildren in how to deal with it.

This exactly. I am tired of posts criticising women for not speaking up at the time or jumping on the bandwagon. Women did complain at the time but knew that the publicity surrounding any further action would be brutal as it has been. I am encouraged by my young teenage granddaughter who told her boyfriend off for speaking about her in a way she didn't like and ended the friendship. That's the way forward.

Agree absolutely Dickens and Petra.

Dickens 👏👏👏

petra unfortunately I think your assumption is correct 🤦‍♀️

Sadly true, petra

Dickens
what do you think
I think you could put that post up every day, every hour and you will not change peoples minds.
All we can do is educate our grandchildren in how to deal with it.

Well said Dickens

Primrose53

All these women coming forward now and john Torode turning on him and now I read that Richard Osman is apologising for sticking up for him in the past!

I consider myself a good judge of character and I know within minutes whether I am going to get on with people or not. I know if people are creepy or dodgy so I avoid them.
Why didn’t all these people who worked with him say something back then?

A man in our neighbourhood was convicted of sex crimes against kids and sent to prison. I have never spoken to him since then. His wife stood by him and I am very cool with her now too. They just creep me out.

All these women coming forward now...

Why didn’t all these people who worked with him say something back then?

When women are pestered or subjected to male 'banter' by a high profile individual who is a household-name, one of the many first reactions will be - as we've seen on here to a limited degree - condemnation for taking this banter too seriously or not just simply sticking-up for themselves and putting said individual in his place. In other words, making a fuss over something considered relatively unimportant.

Not to mention that making accusations against high-profile individuals is probably quite daunting because being a big-name in the celebrity world is going to draw a lot of media attention if those claims come to light. And unless those women have been physically attacked - the accuser is going to get a lot of flack because, quite simply, people just won't believe them, or, if they do, they'll often tell them that they're making a big fuss over nothing.

So women put up with it. Male colleagues who might be aware of what's going on might be sympathetic, but don't always want to rock the boat - especially if their jobs depend on not doing so.

The women put up with and carry on until one of them does speak out, and then they realise that it's not just them and that this person is in fact a bloody pest to others as well, so they're encouraged to speak up.

It's either that, or there's a whole slew of women with vindictive personalities.

Which do you think is the most likely scenario?

Back in my youth, I was pestered similarly (though not quite to the same degree) at work by the boss of the company.

And I did speak out at the time. I told my immediate line-manager.

His immediate reaction was to tell me that I'd "got it wrong", it was "just his way" and the boss was "just trying to be friendly".

Do you not see what women are up against?

If being a sex-pest was taken seriously by society, if women were believed, and knew they wouldn't be subjected to scorn and derision for 'making a fuss' over what some consider to be simply 'banter' which we're supposed to put up with... then maybe more women would speak up at the time, and maybe more men, aware of what is going on, would support them?

What do you think?

It does seem strange, but I suppose it makes sex pests feel invincible when nobody says a word to them.

As I say, I informed the boss about my work colleague, but his "crime" was chatting up women who were way out of his league, and young enough to be his daughters.

He would have probably been shocked had the boss pulled him up.

All these women coming forward now and john Torode turning on him and now I read that Richard Osman is apologising for sticking up for him in the past!

I consider myself a good judge of character and I know within minutes whether I am going to get on with people or not. I know if people are creepy or dodgy so I avoid them.
Why didn’t all these people who worked with him say something back then?

A man in our neighbourhood was convicted of sex crimes against kids and sent to prison. I have never spoken to him since then. His wife stood by him and I am very cool with her now too. They just creep me out.

Richard Coles - he's another creepy one!

Sparklefizz

Yes, "a need for excitement" - some men like risk and danger. Think of George Michael picking up men in toilets, and Hugh Grant with a prostitute in his car. Certainly they weren't men who were unable to find a normal partner. In fact, George Michael's partner was waiting for him at home when G was arrested.

Same as Strictly’s Revd Richard Coles. He wrote that he used to loiter in public toilets or park up in laybys hoping to get casual sex with somebody which he usually did. Totally repulsive yet he is almost a national treasure.

faced complaints for making lewd comments on Strictly Come Dancing ten years ago but was allowed to stay on the show, an insider has claimed.

The BBC allegedly permitted the MasterChef co-host, paired with dancer Aliona Vilani, to remain on series 12 in 2014 despite him being accused of sexual remarks. Wallace left his Strictly partner 'distressed' during show rehearsals as he touched his crotch after ripping his trousers and declaring he was not wearing underwear.

He had said, giggling: 'I don't wear underwear' while gesturing to his crotch, leaving Vilani to ask: 'Are you for real?'.
Beaming, Wallace explained while shaking his hips: 'It's easy to move with [no underwear] I've never worn underwear. I wear socks.'

Yes, "a need for excitement" - some men like risk and danger. Think of George Michael picking up men in toilets, and Hugh Grant with a prostitute in his car. Certainly they weren't men who were unable to find a normal partner. In fact, George Michael's partner was waiting for him at home when G was arrested.

GrannyGravy13

Dickens I am not an expert in this field but I think it is a power trip

From what I have heard and read, he has continued to go a little further each time, just to see ^how far he could go^

That’s what happens in so many areas of abusive behaviour. Indecent exposure used to be considered a none threatening, almost amusing pathetic behaviour. We now accept it’s often a gateway offence into increasingly dangerous sex offending. There’s something about the men we are discussing, a lack of boundaries in their relationships with women and a need for excitement. That’s how it can start, they ‘get away with it’ and if their victim challenges them it makes not a jot of difference

MissAdventure

Fame goes to some peoples heads, and elsewhere for others.

Fame goes to some peoples heads, and elsewhere for others.

Dickens I am not an expert in this field but I think it is a power trip

From what I have heard and read, he has continued to go a little further each time, just to see how far he could go

Well at least it can't be blamed on a private education in his case.

I wonder what it is that causes some men to behave, chronically, like this?

Is it some sort of emotional or mental arrested-development? An obsession? Is it an ego problem? Does it make them feel powerful or something?

ferry23

*John Torode was Greg Wallace's best man at his most recent wedding.*

He probably felt awkward refusing. And it shows the range of Wallace's friendships when he had to ask someone he's not really friends with!

Yes he was, in 2016.
But in 2017 Torode said he and Wallace had never been friends.

It just goes to show that it takes courage to ake stand, when even male colleagues feel uncomfortable speaking out.

John Torode was Greg Wallace's best man at his most recent wedding.

He probably felt awkward refusing. And it shows the range of Wallace's friendships when he had to ask someone he's not really friends with!