John Torode allegedly raised concerns about his MasterChef co-presenter Gregg Wallace to producers "repeatedly" over the years that the pair worked together.
Last month Wallace stepped down from the programme after numerous allegations emerged that he had made crude remarks and exhibited inappropriate behaviour towards multiple women - all claims which he has vehemently denied.
According to The Sun, Torode spoke multiple times to executives at production company Banijay with his concerns about Wallace over the course of the 20 years that they worked on the show together.
A source told the newspaper: "John is not stupid - of course, he was aware of some of Gregg's less savoury behaviour. He did not condone it, and nor did he engage with it.
"He does not have a machismo sense of humour and when he made that comment about the pair of them not being friends in real life, he knew what he was doing. It was his way of distancing himself when attempts to do it otherwise failed.
"He repeatedly flagged his behaviour and poor-taste remarks to execs on set and made clear he wasn't happy. It was never a formal complaint, rather a series of spoken concerns raised.
"He does not know whether any formal record was ever made but the sense he got was that bosses needed to protect the MasterChef brand at all costs and that meant turning a blind eye."
Days after the first allegations emerged, Torode posted a brief statement in which he said that he found the stories "truly upsetting" and 'fully supported' the investigation currently underway.
Neil Wilkes
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