After attacking disgraced MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace on Instagram earlier in the week, Anita Rani doubled down at an award ceremony this evening with her choice of outfit.
The radio and television presenter was attending the Women in Film and Television Awards at London Hilton Park Lane.
Rani, 47, wore a black blazer over her black t-shirt, which featured the words ‘MIDDLE CLASS WOMAN OF A CERTAIN AGE’ in pink lettering.
The phrase was the one used by Wallace in his initial Instagram post defending himself against accusations of inappropriate sexual comments and behaviour against him.
On Monday Rani joined the growing chorus of outrage against Mr Wallace’s remarks about ‘middle class women of a certain age,’ sharing her own opinion on the phrase with her 146,000 followers on Instagram.
She wrote: ‘It’s important to remember that many middle class women of a certain age grew up as working class girls who were, and are, fierce as f**k. With long memories.’
After BBC News sent a letter outlining allegations made by 13 people, including veteran presenter Kirsty Wark, against Mr Wallace, the grocer turned broadcaster posted a series of incendiary videos online where he hit back at his accusers
Mr Wallace wrote: ‘Can you imagine how many women on MasterChef, female contestants, have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo?’
He added: ‘I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years, amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef, and I think, in that time, I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life.
‘Apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time. I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right’.
After a huge backlash against his controversial remarks, which earned a reprimand from the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who called them ‘completely inappropriate and misogynistic’, Wallace apologised, blaming ‘a huge amount of stress’ and ‘a lot of emotion’ for the error.
In a fresh video on social media, the under-fire presenter said of his middle class women slur: ‘I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I have caused to a lot of people’.
I wasn’t in a good headspace when I posted it. I’ve been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion.
‘I felt very alone [and] under siege yesterday when I posted it. It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out now while this investigation is underway. I hope you understand and I do hope that you can accept my apology.’
Wallace’s lawyers say ‘it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature’.
Nevertheless Wallace’s U-turn has been met with scepticism by many, but it has already been branded a ‘classic’ non-apology.
Rani is just one of a growing number of women embracing the ‘middle class women of a certain age’ tag, with Gregg Wallace merchadise flooding Etsy.
His statement has been turned into everything from slogan T-shirts, pins and brooches, to wall art, and mugs available for sale on Instagram and Etsy – as women across the UK called Wallace out for his ‘tone-deaf’ and misogynistic defence.
Women like British artist Megan Fatharly, who turned Wallace’s remarks into a piece of art that is available to purchase for a limited time.
Writing on Instagram, Megan revealed she embossed a piece of gold-plated tin with the phrase ‘middle class woman of a certain age’ on impulse but was surprised to discover a demand for them.
In one of her posts about the artwork, Megan revealed it was originally made to ‘elevat and [sic] ongoing discussion’ and that she did not think ‘anyone would actually purchase one’.
She also shared that 50 per cent of the proceeds from the sale of ‘my tin embossing’ will be donated to Refuge – the UK’s largest domestic abuse charity for women.
In a follow-up post, Megan revealed the embossed tin artwork had sold out within hours of her initial announcement, while also using the opportunity to talk about ‘reactive art making’ as a way of ‘capturing something in time’.
Digital artist Ellen Henry, on the other hand, created a t-shirt with the slogan ‘middle-class woman of a certain age’ that is currently available to purchase on custom apparel platform TeePublic.
The £13.75 design comes in a variety of colours, including charcoal, purple, and black, with options for both men and women.
Another popular ‘f*** you to Gregg Wallace’ piece of merchandise is being sold on Etsy, where FinleoDesigns launched a ‘Middle Class Women (Woman) Of A Certain Age Pin Badge’ that retails for £2.25.
Sharing the design on Instagram, the brand captioned the post: ‘Proudly embrace your “middle class woman of a certain age” energy! (And give men like Gregg Wallace the [middle finger] at the same time).
‘Celebrate yourself – no explanations needed. Reclaimed. Reinvented. Yours,’ the caption read, while describing the pin as the ‘perfect comeback’ to what many perceived as thinly-veiled misogyny.
Similarly, Wallace’s derogatory comments have been turned into something of a war cry – with women placing orders for similarly-designed t-shirts and sweatshirts being sold on gift sites like Present Indicative and The Spark Company at the time of writing.
Reacting to a post about the latter’s new ‘Women of a certain age vs the partriarchy’ t-shirt, several people declared ‘I need this’ in the comments section.
Others criticised Wallace for his comments, with one person writing: ‘I had been almost willing to give the man the chance to apologise and learn, but then he said that.’
Another Instagram user added: ‘This comment. It just. I mean, did he even consider before he opened his mouth? It just beggars belief that people have these views, let alone feel comfortable enough to publicly express them.’
A third person noted: ‘I heard the phrase “freedom of speech does not mean freedom of consequences” and I think about it a lot in cases like this.’
Mail Online revealed earlier today that Gregg Wallace may be completely erased from the new series of MasterChef so it can be aired
Wallace had already filmed the forthcoming series for amateur chefs last month with his co-presenter John Torode, 59. But the 60-year-old is now set to be wiped from the tapes before it is screened next year.
Wallace stood down from the show last week after a flurry of allegations of sexually inappropriate comments on set, which has sparked fears that the next series would have to be completely ditched.
But a production insider told the Mail Online that the series is ‘salvageable’ as the option to airbrush Wallace entirely out of the episodes is being carefully considered.
This would mean that the series – which will have cost production company Banijay a significant sum to make – would not have to be binned.
The source said that Torode and Wallace’s critiques, where they give feedback on the contestants’ food, were filmed separately.
They said: ‘John and Gregg were always shot with separate cameras. Any two shots, or wide shots containing the pair can be cut. Removing Gregg entirely is a difficult task, but not an impossible one.’
Last Friday, n chef Torode was flown overseas to continue filming the show, with Irish chef Anna Haugh stepping in to replace Wallace.
Filming on the forthcoming series was completed on Tuesday afternoon and had been due to be broadcast in Spring 2025. It is now unclear when the BBC will air the recently recorded episodes.
Sources on set said ‘it couldn’t have gone better’, with one saying: ‘Considering the circumstances it has been seamless.’
‘We had the popular Anna Haugh, who has appeared on the show before, step in and give the contestants feedback alongside John.
‘The production team was committed to keeping the atmosphere on set as calm as possible for our amateur finalists.’
It would not be an unprecedented move for a BBC programme to erase its stars from the screen.
In 2023 RuPaul’s Drag Race, a reality TV contest for drag queens, one contestant was airbrushed out after they were accused of inappropriate behaviour before the show aired.
While TV presenter Jay Blades, who was charged last month with the physical and emotional abuse of his wife, has not appeared in pre-recorded episodes of The Repair Shop which have broadcast since.
Last week Wallace stood down from Masterchef, after a BBC News investigation revealed allegations of the presenter’s sexually inappropriate behaviour on television sets over a 17-year period.
The former greengrocer has denied behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. But he is now subject to an external investigation by top London law firm Lewis Silkin, instructed by MasterChef production company Banijay.
Torode broke his silence on Wednesday, but declined to defend his television colleague of 19 years, and said he fully supports the probe into the claims of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behaviour and language.
He said it had been ‘hard’ to keep working after hearing of the allegations.
On Thursday night, the BBC broadcast the semi-finals of MasterChef: The Professional, featuring Wallace. But it has scrapped the scheduled broadcast of two Christmas specials of the cookery show.