Gregg Wallace smiling on a night out
TV

Gregg Wallace’s secret booze battle as he struggled with loneliness following split from wife

The host appears on Inside the Factory on BBC Two tonight

Gregg Wallace is happily married today but suffered a tough time as he separated from his previous wife.

The former greengrocer is best known for co-presenting BBC One’s MasterChef, as well as his work on Inside the Factory.

But Gregg previously hid a secret from his loved ones before taking on his biggest TV projects.

gregg wallace eat well for less
Gregg Wallace previously struggled with ‘drink dependency’ (Credit: BBC/YouTube)

Gregg Wallace opens up on his booze battle

Last year, Gregg spoke openly about his previous struggles with booze.

He hit rock bottom shortly before he started hosting MasterChef in 2005.

At the time, Gregg had divorced from his second wife Denise.

I just wanted to be out and I just wanted to drink.

The television judge, 56, found himself socialising with a group of locals at The White Bear in Clerkenwell, London.

Speaking about the time, he told the MailOnline: “I just wanted to be out and I just wanted to drink. It was seven days a week.

“It got so bad at one point the owner of The White Bear in Clerkenwell used to let me in when he was still in his dressing gown.”

Gregg Wallace and fourth wife
Gregg credits his fourth wife Anna for helping (Credit: SplashNews.com)

Gregg, who would regularly start drinking at 10am, now realises he wasn’t in a good mental state.

The MasterChef star said: “It was drink dependency, I just didn’t realise. It all seemed like fun.

“It might have also been loneliness and a desire to just party and go out all the time. The idea of being at home wasn’t great.”

Read more: What is Masterchef star Gregg Wallace’s net worth? 

Anna, who is the mother of his two-year-old son Sid, helped to change his approach to drinking.

The couple met through Twitter in 2013 and made it official in August 2016.

Gregg Wallace and John Torode are back to judge Celebrity MasterChef
Gregg appears alongside John Torode on MasterChef (Credit: BBC)

Gregg’s weight loss and lifestyle overhaul

Nowadays, Gregg is devoted to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

In 2013, the chef embarked on an overhaul after doctors warned him to reduce his cholesterol levels or risk suffering a heart attack.

He has since lost four stone, gained a six pack and even created his own fitness programme.

Read more: Eat Well for Less: Why is Gregg Wallace leaving the show and what else is he up to?

Speaking to Entertainment Daily, Gregg previously admitted: “It’s a huge incentive, isn’t it. Anna has a much older husband but she doesn’t have to have an old and fat husband does she.

“Sid’s got a much older dad but there’s no reason his dad can’t kick a rugby ball round with him in the garden.

“I love my rugby – I play rugby with Sid’s older brother Tom and I want to do it with Sid. So it’s a massive incentive to stay fit.”

MasterChef's Gregg Wallace's Incredible Fitness Transformation | Lorraine

Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

Related Topics