Inside the Factory host Gregg Wallace quits the show

gregg wallace on inside the factory, in a hair net and white coat
Gregg Wallace quits as Inside the Factory hostBBC

MasterChef franchise presenter Gregg Wallace has announced that he is stepping back from presenting the series Inside the Factory.

The former greengrocer turned TV personality made the revelation on Gaby Roslin's show on BBC Radio London (from 2 hours 30 minutes in if you want to listen), explaining that he needed to spend more time to focus on his 3-year-old son Sid, who needs a bit of extra support.

"We've got another series of Factory on the way," Gregg explained.

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"Do you know my son Sid? He's autistic, he's very autistic. He's got his fourth birthday coming up next year, and he's non-verbal... he's a lovely boy but it's not easy, so I've made the decision not to do Inside the Factory anymore.

"The hair net's gonna go. It's a good time to stop doing it, but there's actually 12 episodes in the can, so I wouldn't have been filming for a while anyway, so it just seemed like a good idea to stop."

Speaking more about his son and his needs, Gregg said: "He's a beautiful, beautiful boy. He doesn't have any sensory issues but he's non-verbal. Imagine a child that you can't threaten or bribe, and that's what you've got.

"You've got a little boy who's cuddly and happy and naughty, but he can't talk to you, so he gets frustrated because he can't tell you what he needs.

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"So we need to find education, and I can't just leave that to Anna... Factory is a lot of travelling. Some of them are in Europe."

As well as the already-filmed Factory episodes, Gregg added that he was currently of the middle of filming "an absolute cracker" of a series of Celebrity MasterChef, and that applications are currently open for the professional series.

Inside the Factory episodes are available to watch on BBC iPlayer and UKTV Play.

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