Gregg Wallace's hooligan lifestyle – from football tattoo to his brushes with the police

Gregg Wallace once admitted he had brushes with the police in his younger days as a self-confessed football “hooligan”.

The former MasterChef presenter, who recently stepped down amid an investigation into historical allegations of misconduct at the BBC, previously opened up about his vehement support of Championship side Millwall FC. Wallace shed light on the south London club’s “fierce reputation”, as well as his own trouble with the law as a match-going fan.

Speaking in an interview with Zoo magazine in 2008, he said: "I was brought up in Peckham and went to Millwall regularly. Some of my friends from school grew up to be hooligans.

"Millwall had a fierce reputation at the time, which was well deserved. They had a large percentage of people that were able to cause havoc! I got arrested for assault when I was 20 - but my Millwall days are long behind me.

"I was a product of my area. Police were making hundreds of arrests at every home game back then. Getting nicked was like a social pastime!"

Despite distancing himself from hooliganism, his loyalty to Millwall remains strong, as shown by the lion tattoo representing the club's crest proudly inked on his chest. Aged 60, Wallace is now facing allegations of inappropriate sexual comments from 13 people across a range of shows over a 17-year period.

Among the BBC News complainants is Kirsty Wark, a former Newsnight presenter, who claimed Wallace made jokes of a “sexualised nature” whilst she participated in Celebrity MasterChef in 2011. Wark claimed that Wallace had twice shared stories and jokes of a "sexualised nature" in front of contestants and crew, which she felt were "really, really in the wrong place".

BBC News cited additional allegations, including the presenter