Shannon Kyle is 47 at the time she was hired to pen Greg Wallace's autobiography life on a plate she was 35 says she was freelance a single parent and living in a counil flat she signed a contract which stated that quote the writer understands that Wallace enjoys a high public profile and that her obligations to him of loyalty and confidentiality are therefore of particular significance in the only interview she's going to give Miss Kyle describes Greg Wallace's Behavior towards her in 2012 as revolting misogyny predatory and sexual harassment we put Miss Kyle's allegations to Mr
Wallace's lawyers they told us he specifically denies any sexual misconduct with Miss Kyle we're going to play her interview in just a moment and I want to let you know that parts of the conversation are sometimes graphic Shannon Kyle told me that her decision to speak out on camera on news night tonight has been one of the most difficult she's ever had to make but she says she wanted to because she couldn't stomach what she called the minimizing of Greg Wallace's Behavior Mr Wallace is one of the BBC's most high-profile presenters hosting shows like Master
Chef and inside the factory the nature of my conversation with Shannon Kyle means that some of the language is sexually graphic we thought it was important you heard her claims in full um he had a very busy schedule filming for Master Chef at the time um so I just had to fit around whatever he whatever he was doing I think it was in maybe the second or third interview um he started to talk about his love life he was dating lots of different women um and he started telling me about these dates who the women
were where he' met them and then in very graphic details what ual acts they had they had done together can I ask for an example um yeah there was lots of examples um he talked about spanking a lot he also talked about um uh one of his uh girlfriends on all fours in front of a mirror um he talked just in incredibly SE sexual detail which at the time it was just so shocking because it was completely unnecessary for the work on one occasion you went to his flat to interview him is that usual would
you normally go to someone's home to to carry out these kind of interviews before writing their book yeah I mean you can do you obviously have to get quite close to your author and you know you meet them at a place that they're relaxed and comfortable in um so when he asked me to go to his flat I didn't think there's anything particularly odd about that when um I arrived at his flat at the um a lotted time um when he opened the door he was um completely naked except for a towel around his waist
and and I think he might have even said something to that effect um he said oh you know um so I said oh I'll come back later you're not ready and he said oh no um I've just been to the gym I've just had a shower you know don't mind me um and then I S then he sort of took me into the living room um and I kind of said look can you just go and get dressed um and I just felt pretty kind of uncomfortable at that that point so I sat on the
sofa to wait for him and then um he disappeared and then he came back and he said oh actually my trousers that I need I've left them there and it was right they were just um folded behind the cushion that I was sat sat on and at that point I did actually even wonder like did he plant those is that you know and then and then um I I kind of looked up and then he dropped the towel so I just in front of in front of me and I had a notebook so I just
put it like this and I just said just go and get dressed and then he did he went off and got dressed and what did you think was going on well I mean at that point I thought this is just a bit of a nightmare job essentially um you know the deadline was so tight we didn't have very much interview time together I really had to make the most of it and I was it was at that point that I thought maybe I should tell somebody because you know this is obviously inappropriate behavior it's you
know making me feel incredibly uncomfortable um however I'd signed a contract and that was essentially an end NDA it's a non-disclosure agreement where you can't talk about anything you can't tell anybody and and one of the very first Clauses in the contract actually stated that the writer understands that Wallace enjoys a high public profile and that her obligations to him of loyalty and confidentiality are therefore of particular significance and also I was worried about losing the job because I'd given up other work for this job so I thought to myself you know I'm I'm just
going to try and navigate this we'll just try and push on through see what happens how would you describe that behavior of the towel and the towel dropping like could it have been an accident I mean it was definitely not an accident I mean it was it was I think it was um planned I think he planned to answer the door with just a towel and I think he might have even planted those trousers next to me why I I mean at the time I just thought he just he's just desperate for attention you know
he'd been talking about wanting to meet someone he'd been talking about you know like he'd been going to the gym and he was looking better and you know all this sort of thing and so I just thought oh he's just you know kind of trying it on really um I mean obviously it was an extreme way to do that but how would you describe how that behavior made you feel well I mean it it was quite disgusting I mean it was um I felt quite vulnerable um because I'm on my own in a flat with
a man who's naked um and it was just highly unexpected I mean I I just I it was then I realized actually that you know the rumors that i' had possibly heard about him and I think it has always had this sort of cheeky reputation or whatever I realized this is something beyond that are there other things that he said to you that that took you back yes um he said several things to me actually which I'd actually like to read out um and you able to read them out because you wrote These in an
email to a friend you told her what he had said to you yes so they contemporaneous notes um because they were so shocking um you know before I read it out I I just want to point out that you know when these words were said to me they literally made my stomach girl you know I was literally just like they're almost like um little grenades word grenades you know that I think are designed to humiliate and um I think that saying them aloud you know almost feel shameful but I want to point out that I
want to now pass that shame back to the person who actually said them so this is what GRE Wallace said to me um in a restaurant if you won't let me sleep with you would you lick my ass and after rejecting his advances he said I should keep an open mind and he'd keep his knob clean next time when I was out eating dinner with him one day I had um eaten mess for dessert and while I was eating this he suddenly asked me what would you think if I put some of the eat and
mess you're eating on my Willie then oh my God so how did you react when he said those things well I mean when he asked about the eats I actually said I think you'd look pretty stupid I mean what I really wanted you to do was just push the eess across the table and it land in his lap and walk out and never see him again um it's just I understood what was happening because I understood that I mean I've never come across this before because you know this is sexual harassment almost of a different
genre but it's like you know these these little word grenades are designed to see my reaction um so I tried not to react I tried to brush them off I tried to laugh or change the subject what were you thinking they were in your head you weren't laughing oh God no I mean it was just really revolting and sickening it wasn't attractive it was obscene it was um you know obviously designed to to cause discomfort of some sort were any other occasions similar to that we did this interview and then when we stood up I
stood up to say goodbye um he went in for this hug his face was just right next to mine and we're about the same height and I just completely froze um and then he just kind of said into right into my ear go just give me a little kiss just give me a little just a little one and I just paused and then you know he either let go or I kind of pushed him off a little bit and um and then I just really quickly wanted to get away I just said look I'm I'm
I'm going now and and and I was I mean I was in tears um I left very quickly there may be someone listening to you watching you right now thinking that's the point at which you leave this job because it's not worth it exactly what would you say to them for me to have stood up and gone oh you know what he made this really awful pass at me I don't want to have to navigate this anymore I'm not doing it that was you know that's the difficulty isn't it you know I turned down all
the work I was relying on this income come did I do that or did I just once again push on through and after that when you had left his flat and were in tears was that the only time you say he touched you inappropriately no um there was another occasion in his sports car um he persuaded me um to go out for dinner and I made it very clear it was not a date it was just a dinner for the interview um and he got a sports car that had been loaned to him and he
wanted to use it to drive there and I said I'd meet him there but he insisted that it was just a very short drive so got into the car and then every time he was changing the gear stick he would just T give my thigh a rub or the knee and it was just so kind of nonchalant I was a bit like oh my God like you know it's almost like I was making a fuss by saying like get off me but I did I kind of moved away and I said just just stop after
that dinner when you'd carried on interview in him you got back into that sports car cuz he was going to give you a a short the short lift home what happened then so um he uh started trying to touch my knee and my thigh again and it was at this point I just I just lost my temper because I really had had enough I was so angry and I said if you touch me again I will I think I said either hit or slap you um and he did he stopped he stopped completely and he
didn't try it again one of the last interview that you did with Greg Wallace for the book was in Birmingham uh he was appearing at the good food show what happened there yes so um after he had appeared on stage um we did a short interview together in the hotel um and then after that my brother who lived in birming at the time came to pick me up um I saw my brother turned to say goodbye and then as I was either walking towards the car and he followed me or just before I started walking
um I could feel him touching me um around my backside and um and my brother saw it um and so when I got in the car he actually said I just saw him do that and I was and actually out of everything that happened that was the thing that was most mortifying and humiliating because it was my younger brother who saw it and I was just so sort of in a in a fluster I just said look just just put your foot down just get out of here when the allegation about Greg Wallace's inappropriate comments
emerged last week what did you think initially I actually thought wow this is a long time coming I mean I was just you've been expecting it yeah I mean I couldn't believe that it's taken this long I'd almost sort of completely given up hope that one day the reality would come out um it's like he's been you know shielded um you know just that you know many ways the BBC have been complicit by making him this you know Larger than Life character um you know I mean the stuff he said to me that isn't cheeky
Barrow boy Cockney humor that's that's revolting misogyny and I think that for so long people have known this has been going on they've turned a blind eye they've not spoken out why have you chosen to speak out now this has been one of the most difficult and testing and almost excruciating decisions that I've ever had to make um I'm a ghost writer and an introvert I mean I sit at home and I write books for people I don't like to be in the spotlight I'm not being paid for this interview I'm not going to do
any more interviews um but I felt absolutely compelled to speak out because if women don't speak out this is why these men get away with it for years and years and years when I heard some of the allegations people started to say these are just Luke comments he's just a bit of a cheeky chappie no there's more to this um I'm in Testament that there's more to this and if I can't speak out as a middle-aged middle class woman that I am now I wasn't back then but I am now then I'll never speak out
I've got two daughters and two nieces and I want to be able to look them in the eye and say I try to do the right thing Greg Wallace's lawyers have told the BBC that quote it is entirely false that he engages in behavior of a sexually harassing nature what do you say to that well it's not true I mean that's why I'm here because I want people to hear the truth and the fact is that he does sexually harass people and his behavior is predatory and hiding behind an act a master cheef I mean
how long can that go on for I was there as his Ghost Writer I can only tell my story and if it even shifts the dial even slightly and the culture that we seem to think is acceptable then it'll be worth it the BBC says any Behavior which Falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated they've pulled the two Master Chef Christmas specials in a change of heart from the BBC's earlier position what do you think of how the BBC has handled this well I mean again the Master Chef episodes have
only been pulled after there's been a bit of an outcry on social media you know I mean I can only talk from my experience but what I couldn't stomach was this minimizing of his behavior and trying to pass it off as something that's not um aggressive or um designed to humiliate because it is and if Greg Wallace was watching you now what would you say to him um I would say he needs help I I would say this has gone on for long enough you know can all these women be wrong is he the one
that's right here um I actually can't bear the thought of him watching this and probably I mean I I I have no idea what he's going to think of this there's part of me that wonders if he'll even remember because to him it was just like so natural to behave in this way it seemed so I would just say go and get help thank you thank you well in a statement Greg Wallace's lawyers told newsight Mr Wallace has denied that he has engaged in any such behavior and he specifically denies any sexual misconduct with Miss
Kyle a BBC spokesperson said in recent days there's been concerning allegations made via the media about the alleged conduct of Greg Wallace many of which relate to shows made for the BBC the production company Banner juk launched a review because they have direct contractual relationship with Greg Wallace we'll provide whatever assistance we can to that investigation and finally if you want any support or help because of the nature of the conversation I just had with Shannon Kyle please do contact the BBC actionline at bbc.co.uk actionline or you can call 0800 7 o 7
