TV star Gregg said he needed to step back from presenting duties to help his wife find education for his 3-year-old son, who is non-verbal

Masterchef host Gregg Wallace is to step down from hit BBC series Inside the Factory to spend more time with his autistic son.

The TV presenter, 58, has co-presented the show – which explores how the nation's favourite foods are made – alongside Cherry Healey for 7 years. He has agreed to step back to focus more on his son, who is non-verbal.

• Gregg Wallace reveals son has been diagnosed with autism in emotional Loose Women interview

Gregg said that filming the BBC show meant he spent too much time away from his wife, Anne-Marie Sterpini, 36 and son Sid, 3, who needs him at home.

He will, however, continue to present Masterchef.

Gregg told Gaby Roslin's BBC Radio London show that it was a good time to stop hosting Inside the Factory as his son needed him more.

He said:

'So I’ve made a decision that I’m actually not going to do Inside The Factory any more.

'It’s a good time to stop doing it because there’s actually 12 episodes in the can…

'So I wouldn’t have been filming for a while anyway so it just seemed like a good idea to stop it.'

'He gets frustrated'

The TV presenter also opened up about his son, revealing that Sid gets frustrated because he is unable to talk.

Gregg added:

'Imagine a child that you can’t threaten or bribe and that’s basically what you’ve got.

'You’ve got a little boy who’s cuddly and happy and naughty, like any little boy would be, but he can’t speak, he can’t talk to you, so he gets frustrated because he finds it difficult to tell you what exactly it is he needs.'

A 'big, big decision'

When it comes to parenting, Gregg revealed that he didn't want to leave it all to Anne-Marie, but that he wanted to be equally involved.

He said:

'Right now, we need to find education for him and I can’t just leave that to Anna – that’s a big, big decision.

'I mean, all parents worry about the schools that children will go to. Ours is even more highlighted because of poor little Sid’s issues.'

'We knew at about a year old'

Last year the celebrity opened up about Sid's autism diagnosis , revealing that he and Anne-Marie knew something wasn't right when Sid was about 1.

He told ITV's Loose Women panel:

'He’s 3, you can’t legally diagnose until you’re 2 and a half in this country

‘But we knew at about a year old we had some issues.’

When asked what signs he and Anna spotted, Gregg shared how Sid ‘wasn’t answering his name, and wasn’t playing peekaboo,’ despite being able to walk and run around.

The TV star continued: ‘He’s got something called global development delay, which means he is not speaking.

‘But he is lovely, he is cuddly … If he wants something, he grabs your hand.’

Married 4 times

Gregg was married 3 times before he met Anne-Marie. The couple met in 2013 when Anne-Marie approached him on Twitter, and were married in 2016. They welcomed son Sid in 2019.

He told Hello! Magazine that Anne-Marie had first approached him to ask if rhubarb really went with duck after seeing one of his cooking programmes, before he messaged her back.

He joked:

'I just looked at Anna's photo and thought, 'Wow, she's pretty'. So yes, rhubarb, which was considered an aphrodisiac in medieval times, brought us together.'

The TV presenter previously opened up about his wife on ITV's Lorraine, adding that their relationship was down to luck.

He said:

'I think it’s just luck, and I got very lucky this time. Very lucky.'

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