Paddy McGuinness has opened up about stepping into Gregg Wallace‘s shoes on Inside the Factory, following Gregg’s departure in the midst of a BBC investigation into alleged misconduct. The Phoenix Nights comedian secured the gig after parting ways with his previous BBC hits Top Gear and A Question of Sport earlier this year.
He’s set to make his debut as the new face of the show – a role left vacant by Gregg, who was accused by various women of making them feel uncomfortable with his comments and jokes. The MasterChef presenter, 60, announced his exit from Inside the Factory at the start of 2023, following claims that he made “inappropriate” comments concerning a female factory worker’s looks during a shoot at a Nestlé plant in York.
(Image: BBC/Voltage TV/Michael Rees)
It’s believed that the incident played a significant part in his decision to step aside, although his three year old son Sid, diagnosed with autism, is also a priority for him wanting more family time. Fans can catch Paddy in action on his inaugural episode as host which airs Sunday night on BBC. In this festive episode, he visits Saint Niklas in Belgium, where he delves into the workings of a chocolate factory that churns out four million chocolate seashells daily.
Paddy gives viewers a sneak peek into how hazelnuts are roasted with sugar to create the praline filling, before being pumped into chocolate moulds. Meanwhile, his co-star Cherry Healy gets the lowdown on how the white chocolate in the Guylian seashells is made, and learns there’s a specific formula for perfect Christmas tree decoration, reports the Mirror.
(Image: BBC/Voltage TV)
Chatting with The Sun, he revealed: “I thought: ‘I got my heavy goods licence doing Top Gear, now I’m driving into the place I used to work at 30-odd years ago, hosting another show for the BBC. When I was that 16 year old kid who used to walk to work with butties my mum had made me, who’d have thought all these years later, I’d have had all these amazing things go on in my life.”
Paddy continued: “It was one of those moments where I thought: ‘Bloody hell, life eh? It does have its twists and turns.'”
The series, which delves into the secrets of machines that manufacture our everyday products, has become a hit with viewers. BBC’s specialist factual head honcho, Jack Bootle, expressed his belief that Paddy would inject “new energy” into the show. He said: “Inside the Factory is one of the BBC’s best-loved factual brands. It deserves to have a big star at the helm,” and added, “I’m unbelievably excited that Paddy is putting on his white coat and rising to the challenge. He has a passion for production and engineering that’s impossible to fake.”
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