Gregg Wallace has hit back at allegations of historic misconduct, saying they have come from a “handful of middle class women of a certain age”.

The MasterChef presenter said in a video on Instagram on Sunday morning there had been “13 complaints” from “over 4,000 contestants” he had worked with in 20 years on the BBC One show.

He stepped aside last week after a BBC News investigation revealed a string of allegations of inappropriate sexual comments and inappropriate behaviour against him, with broadcaster Kirsty Wark among the complainants.

According to the Sunday Times, broadcaster Aasmah Mir also complained about inappropriate comments Wallace had allegedly made during filming of Celebrity MasterChef.

“I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years – amateur, professional and celebrity 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,” Wallace told his more than 200,000 followers.

“And apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time.

“Now, in the newspaper 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.”

He finished his statement by saying: “In over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo – can you imagine?”

Wallace’s lawyers have strongly denied he engages in sexually harassing behaviour, while the BBC said it will “always listen if people want to make us aware of something directly”.

It comes as the BBC faces fresh questions over its handling of allegations against the 60-year-old, after emails emerged showing it was warned about him in 2017.

Mir has said that she complained to the BBC about Gregg Wallace’s remarks on the set of the cooking show.

In an internal email, BBC executive Kate Phillips, who now heads up unscripted programmes for the corporation, said that his behaviour on set was “unacceptable and cannot continue”.

She added that she would make sure that she was “informed straight away” should further allegations be made against him.

Mir later sent an email that was copied to Phillips, saying: “This must not happen again to another woman.”

Separately, the Observer says a letter containing multiple claims of inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace was sent to the BBC in 2022, but did not result in further investigation at the time.

On Thursday, MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK said Wallace would step away from presenting the show while allegations of historical misconduct were investigated.

The 60-year-old is “committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”, Banijay added.

It came after BBC News sent a letter to Wallace’s representatives, setting out allegations we have heard from 13 people, across a 17-year period.

One of them was Ms Wark, a Celebrity MasterChef contestant in 2011, who said he told “sexualised” jokes during filming.

Since then, more people have come forward with allegations about the presenter.

On Saturday evening, Wallace said in an Instagram post: “We are all different.”

His lawyers have said it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.

The BBC said it has “robust processes” in place to deal with issues if they are raised.

Earlier on Saturday, MasterChef producers announced they have appointed a “rigorous” law firm to lead an investigation into Wallace’s alleged misconduct.

On the appointment of London law firm Lewis Silkin, a Banijay UK spokesperson said it was a “highly experienced specialist investigations team which has overseen a broad range of high-profile workplace investigations”.