Outrage over Gregg Wallace’s alleged conduct has intensified after he dismissed his accusers as “middle-class women of a certain age”, following revelations that the BBC received multiple complaints about him over a period of 12 years.

The corporation and other broadcasters are facing growing questions about how the MasterChef presenter was allowed to remain on screen despite a series of allegations of inappropriate behaviour dating back to at least 2012.

Vera Baird KC, the former victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, accused the BBC of being “in the dark ages” for “tolerating” allegedly sexually inappropriate conduct by its male stars.

“It is shocking that repeatedly we see this kind of behaviour being tolerated by the BBC who do seem to disregard the obligations they have to protect people who go on television,” Baird told the Guardian.

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He said in an Instagram video: “Look, this is important to me. Twenty years of doing Celebrity MasterChef, amateur, professional, Eat Well for Less?, Inside the Factory. Do you know how many staff, all different sorts of staff, you imagine the people I’ve worked with. Do you know how many staff complained about me in that time? Absolutely none. Zero. Seriously.”