Gregg Wallace has hit back at ‘unfair’ backlash over his Saturday regime where he said he ‘wouldn’t have chosen’ to have his son.
The MasterChef judge, 59, lifted the lid on his typical weekend routine and opened up about his dramatic 5-stone weight loss and gym regime for The Telegraph’s My Saturday column.
However, Gregg became emotional during an Instagram live on Wednesday due to the backlash and said the comments have been ‘cruel,’ ‘nasty’ and ‘unfair’.
He said: ‘There are just two things I want to address here with Sid [Gregg’s son]. People said ‘So you spend an an hour and a half with your son, but then spend two hours on your computer’. No – I’m with my son in the house all the time.
‘I just didn’t write down ‘Had a tickle with Sid, playing around the living room’ – you’re not logging every minute of the day. I just logged the blocks. So, it didn’t mean that’s all I saw him that day.’
Gregg Wallace has hit back at ‘unfair’ backlash over his Saturday regime where he said he ‘wouldn’t have chosen’ to have his son
The MasterChef judge, 59, became emotional during an Instagram live on Wednesday due to the backlash and said the comments have been ‘cruel,’ ‘nasty’ and ‘unfair’
Gregg added: ‘If you’re living in a house with someone, you’re interacting with them all the time. Not only that – that is a snapshot of one Saturday. I hope that makes sense to everybody.
‘And the other thing as well – and I’m almost going to cry over this – people saying that Sid was unwanted. It took us two years to conceive with Sid. Two years.’
Gregg explained that his wife Anna, who is 22 years younger than him, wanted a family, however he said at the time he wouldn’t have chosen to have children at his age before he met her.
Gregg was already a single parent with two children who he brought up on his own, and he confessed that he and Anna almost went into fertility treatment before she fell pregnant with Sid.
Gregg concluded that the comments have been ‘cruel,’ ‘nasty’ and ‘unfair’ and that the interview was ‘innocent’, while reminding fans that everyone is human and that he was ‘deeply saddened’.
Gregg left fans baffled after revealing his typical weekend routine for The Telegraph’s My Saturday column.
Revealing he doesn’t indulge in a weekend lie-in, Gregg kicks off his day at 5am, reading for an hour – currently A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles – before making himself a cup of coffee and checking the sign-up numbers for his health programme.
There’s no more time to rest, however, as he has to stick to his five day a week workout regime, revealing he has persuaded staff to open the gym half an hour early for him every weekend so he can enjoy a private swim and sauna.
Gregg said: ‘And the other thing as well – and I’m almost going to cry over this – people saying that Sid was unwanted. It took us two years to conceive with Sid. Two years.’
Gregg left fans baffled after revealing his typical weekend routine which includes a ‘no sweat’ workout, a fry up at the Harvester and hours playing historical war video games
Once members of the public start arriving (at the correct time) Gregg makes a beeline for the treadmills where he works towards his 50,000 steps a week goal but insists there’s ‘no sweating.’
Having worked up an appetite, but not a sweat, next on the to-do list is breakfast, with Gregg meeting his PA at the local Harvester for breakfast – which consists of bacon, sausage and fried egg.
While he admitted people are often surprised to see him in the budget chain restaurant, he has ‘never been disappointed’ by the food, and is particularly fond of the grilled chicken and salad bar.
In contrast, he noted he has been let down by the food on offer at several three-star Michelin restaurants around Europe.
During breakfast, talk turns to business with his PA as they juggle his MasterChef filming, well-being business and new health and well-being podcast, A Piece of Cake.
Speaking about his new healthy living podcast, Gregg mused: ‘I love chatting to the experts, but I’m quite the expert too, having been journalling, manifesting, goal-setting and reading self-help books for years.’
Seemingly blessed with a high metabolism, lunch comes just an hour and a half after his fry up, with Gregg’s wife Anna, 38, ensuring food is on the table when he arrives home at midday.
After lunch comes quality time with his four-year-old son, Sid, who’s non-verbal autistic but has ‘started to seek company and show eye contact.’
Speaking candidly about his relationship with his youngest child, Gregg – who has two adult children Tom, 29, and Libby, 26, with his ex-wife Denise – shared: ‘I’m a much better father now I’m older, although another child isn’t something that I would have chosen at my age.
‘I was always very honest with Anna, but it’s what she wanted and I love her. I just requested two things – that we had help in the house (so her mum moved in), and secondly that we had at least one week a year when we holidayed just the two of us.’
Having worked up an appetite, but not a sweat, next on the to-do list is breakfast, with Gregg meeting his PA at the local Harvester for breakfast – bacon, sausage and fried egg
Seemingly blessed with a high metabolism, lunch comes just an hour and a half after his fry up, with Gregg’s wife Anna, 38, ensuring lunch is on the table when he arrives home at midday
Gregg’s Saturday regime quickly began trending on X, with baffled fans claiming he was like Steve Coogan’s comedy character, Alan Partridge
After an hour and a half of quality time with Sid, Gregg then indulges in two hours of me-time.
As an ‘amateur historian’ and video game fan, he likes to lock himself away in his home office at 3pm playing Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, set in 878 AD
After leading the Norsemen, Saxons, and Gaels to victory he then sets about preparing dinner for his family.
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The restaurateur and former greengrocer revealed Anna takes on the main kitchen duties as he cooks for his family just once a week, typically a grilled fish dish from the fishmonger.
He’s also partial to making his own ‘healthy’ cheeseburgers, as takeaways are banned after his health overhaul.
Alcohol is also restricted, with Gregg drinking twice a week, typically starting off with a pint, then a wine, then a whisky or brandy, but ensures he doesn’t ‘drink excessively any more.’
After his long day comes an early bed time of 8pm, where he and Anna will either read or watch a film on his laptop because Gregg ‘tried sitting on the sofa eating biscuits’ but didn’t find it ‘fulfilling’.
Sleep typically comes by 9pm.
Gregg’s Saturday regime quickly began trending on X, with baffled fans claiming he was like Steve Coogan’s comedy character, Alan Partridge.
They penned: ‘Catching up on Gregg Wallace’s magnificently Partridgian My Saturday.’; ‘Gregg Wallace here with an article that would easily place him in the top division of LinkedIn’s most ridiculously egotistical contributors’;
‘I met Gregg Wallace once – I hasn’t to bump into him not once but twice within an hour in Manchester city centre and from our fleeting interaction I’m not entirely surprised by his Partridge-esque interview.’;
Gregg is kept busy juggling MasterChef filming, well-being business and new health and well-being podcast, A Piece of Cake (pictured with MasterChef co-judge John Torode)
‘This is my favourite bit… amateur historian #GreggWallace’; ‘Ok, who is opening up their Fitness First early to let in Gregg Wallace?’; ‘How do we break it to Gregg Wallace that this isn’t actually what historians do?’;
”At 8pm it’s biscuits – and CHEESE’ Gregg Wallace and Gromit’; ‘Gregg Wallace. This has to be parody, surely?’; ‘Can’t stop reading the Gregg Wallace thing. What a journey, every word is absolutely incredible.’;
‘Imagine being that person at the gym who has to get there half an hour early so Gregg Wallace can have a solitary swim, or his PA that has to go to Harvester every Saturday morning and watch him eat his bacon and eggs’;
‘Gregg Wallace: I wake up at the same time every morning. I’ll read for an hour – right now it’s A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles – then I’ll make myself a coffee and check emails. Blur: PARK LIFE’;
‘Gregg Wallace tells the world his child was unplanned and spends more time playing computer games (two hours) than spending time with his autistic son (hour and a half). If I commented with my feelings on this, Twitter would ban me.’