Gregg Wallace has hit out at 'rude' strangers and urged viewers to stop sending him photographs of their dinner - and their bald friends - on Twitter.
The 48-year-old MasterChef star told the Radio Times that his career would end if people knew that he had 'clumped' some of the people who were rude to him, before retracting his comment.
He told the Radio Times: "The only downside to my job is lack of privacy. We're household names, but not big movie stars. I'm a south-east London blue-collar boy, so sometimes people are rude, thinking I won't react because I'm on television.
"My natural inclination is to clump them - and I have. If that was known I'd be arrested and it would end my career."
He added: "OK, I haven't done it. But here's a plea: could viewers stop sending me pictures of their dinner on Twitter - I get about 30 a day."
Gregg, who apparently spends three hours a day replying, added: "And also photographs of their friends who are bald and have glasses, telling me they're my double."
He insisted: "They're not my double - just a bald bloke with glasses."
Co-presenter John Torode, 47, told the magazine that the pair did not say goodbye to axed MasterChef contestants because they are not important.
"When they walk in with food they think is amazing and our comments are pretty awful, the reality hits home. Some bounce back. Others don't," he said. "Our job is to push the good ones forward. Those who leave aren't important any more. We don't say goodbye to them."
Gregg added: "I do look at some contestants and wonder why they're here, but if they're sobbing and really upset we turn off the cameras... There are some we warm to and it's upsetting to see them mess up."
