Gregg Wallace has ‘gone rogue’ and was ‘ignoring PR advice’ when he blamed ‘middle class women of a certain age’ for accusing him of ‘sexualised behaviour’ on MasterChef… sparking a huge backlash
Daily Mail
Mark Borkowski, one of the UK’s leading PR gurus and crisis managers, told MailOnline today that Gregg is ‘only listening to his own ego’ – not advice – meaning his video about middle class women complaining is likely to end his TV career.
‘The first law of PR in a crisis is never let your emotions rule your Instagram’, he said. ‘The PR playbook his ego is referencing was written at the same time as Mrs Beeton was writing her cook books’.
‘What Wallace seems to have catastrophically miscalculated is the seismic shift in workplace norms. Studios, like most workplaces today, are hypersensitive ecosystems. The top-tier talent is expected to lead with grace, setting an example for both on-screen colleagues and off-screen crew. “Bawdy” humour and inappropriate antics, once passed off as harmless personality quirks, now read as tone-deaf at best and career-ending at worst.
‘The issue here isn’t just about bad jokes or offensive behaviour; it’s about a profound misunderstanding of evolving power dynamics’.