MasterChef's Gregg Wallace Fights to Improve Autism Education Funding

 
Gregg Wallace has used an appearance on shopping channel QVC to appeal for more funding for children with autism, telling viewers that they need more support because they 'do not fit in well' in mainstream schools.

The 59-year-old MasterChef UK judge and latter-day fitness guru made a special appearance on the channel on Saturday morning to promote the sale of Little Sid Rosebushes, named after his four-year-old son, who has autism and is non-verbal.

Five pounds from the sale of each £20 rosebush, which has been bred by legendary British flower house Harkness, is being donated to the charity Ambitious About Autism, of which Wallace is an ambassador.

He told the channel that while Sid has been accepted into a local special needs school, others in mainstream school settings need more support.

Wallace stepped back from some presenting jobs last year in order to dedicate more time to his son and has become a prominent advocate for better support for children with autism, a neurological condition that affects how a person communicates.

He said: 'The rose comes from YouGarden and a fiver from every single one of these roses goes to Ambitious About Autism...directly helping young children with autism.

'Finding education for them is not easy. Let me tell you, we're very fortunate, we got him (Sid) into a local special needs school, but autistic children do not fit in well with mainstream education, we do need extra funding.'

Wallace hand-picked the cultivar himself, inspired by Sid's personality and his character. He shared a tender image of himself, wife Anne-Marie Sterpini and Sid potting one of the plants on Instagram.

Speaking about the flower, he added: 'It's a beautiful fragrance, to me it smells a little bit like vanilla and honey, but the flower itself is the same colour as Sid's favourite.

'If you want to go to a cafe and keep him quiet, you need raspberry or strawberry ice cream. I'm not a great gardener and I've planted these myself. They're easy (to look after).

'We picked it because it's robust and hardy like little Sid himself, it's a beautiful thing.'

The Little Sid Rose is being sold by YouGarden.com, Harkness Rose Company and World Of Roses, and will also be on display at the Chelsea Flower Show in May.

QVC hopes to sell 5,000 of the specimens alone, raising at least £25,000 for the charity.

Ambitious About Autism estimates that around 70 per cent of children living with autism are in mainstream schools and academies, but says many experience bullying and mental health issues due to a lack of support.

Wallace has spoken candidly about Sid's autism diagnosis on a number of occasions, becoming an advocate for  better support for those living with the condition.

He said last November of the flower: 'Raising an autistic child has many challenges but also great joys, as other families with lived experience will know.

'Anna and I are very proud of our wonderful son Sid and this rose is a celebration of him and all autistic young people.

'I hope it will help to increase understanding and acceptance of autism.'

He previously told The Sun that ensuring his son's needs were met was a particular fear, given that the four-year-old does not speak.

'The biggest challenge is... they're fears more than anything else. If he's upset or he's unwell, at the moment, he can't tell us, and I'm not sure how he would communicate that to us,' he said.

'He started school and, of course, you can't say "are you making friends?" So all you've got is him skipping into school and looking forward going into school.'

He added that it was both a source of unease, and joy, that he did not know how exactly Sid's brain would develop as he gets older.

He added: 'We have got an incredibly cuddly little boy. We're very fortunate in many, many ways.'

In March last year, Wallace stepped away from his BBC Two show Inside The Factory, telling Gaby Roslin's show on BBC Radio London that Sid needed additional support with his education.

Wallace - who was the original presenter of BBC cooking show Saturday Kitchen, and has featured on Eat Well For Less?, Turn Back Time, Harvest and Supermarket Secrets - shares Sid with Anne-Marie Sterpini, who he married in 2016.

Before his broadcasting career, Wallace worked at Covent Garden fruit and vegetable market before starting George Allan's Greengrocers in 1989.

The TV presenter - who also has two children, Tom and Libby, from a previous relationship - took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 and was made an MBE in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to food and charity.

His most notable role is that of judge and co-presenter of BBC's MasterChef since 2005 with celebrity chef John Torode.

And he has become an unlikely fitness icon after shedding five stone with an intense fitess regime following a doctor's warnings that he was at risk of a heart attack.