The majority of Friday’s newspapers lead with MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace stepping aside from his TV role. The Daily Telegraph says Wallace stepped back after the BBC began an inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct, following an investigation by the paper. The paper also reports that Lord Mackinlay has urged MPs to vote against the assisted dying bill when it comes before the Commons on Friday. The peer told the paper that the experience of having all four of his limbs amputated after contracting sepsis had taught him that “life – no matter how tough – is worth living”.
Metro reports that Wallace is “facing claims of inappropriate and sexualised behaviour during filming by 13 women – including former BBC Newsnight host Kirsty Wark”.
The Daily Mirror also reports that Wallace was “probed over sexual comments” and 13 complaints were made over his “jokes’, boasts and conduct”. The paper says that Sir Rod Stewart “slams” him for “‘humiliation of contestant wife Penny'”.
The Sun also says that Sir Rod Stewart “accused” Gregg Wallace of “humiliating” his wife Penny Lancaster, after the presenter left MasterChef on Thursday. The paper adds that the “pop legend called Wallace a “tubby, bald bully” as it emerged he faces “misconduct complaints from 13 people”. Meanwhile, TV host Stephen Mulhern was taken to hospital after collapsing in a restaurant having had a “reaction” to a local anaesthetic for routine surgery hours earlier, the paper says.
The Daily Star also uses Sir Rod Stewart’s “tubby bald bully” riposte as its front page headline on the story.
The Guardian leads on the vote that will decide whether assisted dying should be legalised. The paper calls it a “once in a decade” opportunity that could “fundamentally shift the role of the state in matters of life and death”. Kim Leadbeater, the MP behind the bill, makes her “final plea” before the “knife-edge” vote in an interview with the paper, in which she urges her colleagues to support the principle of body autonomy.
The i newspaper says it has carried out new polling which found a “majority” of people in the UK support the plan to legalise assisted dying. The paper says 54% of adults back the legislation introduced by Leadbeater while 16% opposed it. Friday’s vote is the first on the “highly charged issue” in 15 years, it adds.
The Daily Mail unusually has a comment at the very top of its front page in which it says that MPs “must press the pause button” on what it calls the “ill thought-out bill”. However, the paper leads on the revelation that Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has admitted a criminal conviction a decade ago. The paper reports that Haigh’s position was said to be “untenable” with calls for Keir Starmer to “come clean about why she was given such a leading role”.
Haigh is pictured on the front page of the Times, which explains that her 2014 conviction “is now spent, which means it has been removed from her record”. The paper leads on another political story – Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to tighten immigration rules. He said figures that showed net migration reached nearly one million “should shock all of us”, the paper adds.
The lead story in the Financial Times says Christine Lagarde has urged Europe’s political leaders to co-operate with Donald Trump over tariffs and “buy more products made in the US”, warning an “acrimonious trade war risks wiping out global economic growth”. The paper says the European Central Bank chief said in her first interview since Trump’s victory that the EU needed “not to retaliate, but to negotiate”.
