A MAN from Cumbria has told a phone-in show that he thinks Gregg Wallace is being 'ganged up on by humourless, witchy women'.

A caller called Phil, purportedly from Penrith, got in touch with BBC Radio 5 Live to share his thoughts on the situation regarding former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace as he faces allegations of misconduct - including making 'inappropriate sexual jokes' - on various TV shows over the last 15 years.

Speaking about the allegations on social media, Gregg Wallace described the complaints as 'coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age.'

In response to the situation, Phil said: "I think Gregg Wallace is being ganged up on by humourless, witchy women.

"Gregg Wallace is too blokey for them. They've got a chip on their shoulder.

"You know the women who arrange the flowers in church? Don't get in an argument with them. They will gang up on you, you'll be ostracised, you'll be bad worded all over the place.

"Women can be merciless once they've got their teeth into you, they'll strip the flesh off your bones."

Wallace, 60, faces allegations from 13 people across a range of shows over a 17-year period, as reported by BBC News on Thursday, with many others sharing their experiences in recent days.

He has since apologised for his comment, saying: "I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday, and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people."

Last Thursday, it was announced that Wallace is to step away from the hit BBC cooking show MasterChef while historical misconduct complaints are externally reviewed by the producer Banijay UK.