Gregg Wallace laments ‘boring’ role as he returns home
Gregg Wallace has opened up about his four-year-old son, Sid, who was diagnosed with autism just last year.
While speaking with The Times’ T2 about getting the diagnosis for his youngest child, the MasterChef star admitted that being an older father could have been a factor, but refused to assign blame on the situation.
The 58-year-old shared: “It could be that. It doesn’t trouble me. Blame is for God and small children.
“It doesn’t make it any better if we go: it’s my fault.”
The link between paternal age and autism has been investigated multiple times over the past few decades, with the International Journal of Epidemiology stating in 2014 that the risk of having a child on the autism spectrum grows as the parents age.
The study noted that children born to fathers over the age of 45 are three and a half times more likely to be on the spectrum than those born to fathers in their early 20s, with Autism Research News stating that the parental age link to diagnoses is “one of the most consistent findings in the epidemiology of autism”.
Gregg also revealed he and Anna are struggling to get an education, health and care plan for Sid from the local council.
At the moment, Sid is non-verbal and has a global developmental delay, which Gregg noted they had noticed when he was just a few months old.
Speaking about the moment they got the diagnosis, Gregg confessed: “You go through a period of almost like mourning. Like, my God, I haven’t got the child I thought I had.”
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He explained on Loose Women last year that a child can only be “legally diagnosed” with autism at two and a half years old, but noted: “We knew at about a year old.”
As a father-of-three, Gregg almost immediately noticed that Sid wasn’t answering to his name and playing peek-a-boo around the same age his other children had, although he was meeting his physical milestones like walking and running.
The celebrity chef candidly added that he and Anna are “holding out hope” their toddler will continue to develop and improve over time.
He sweetly gushed over his son on the show: “But he is lovely and he is cuddly and he is happy. And if he wants something he grabs your hand and takes you.”
Following Sid’s diagnosis, Gregg has also stepped back his hosting role on Inside The Factory to spend more time with his son, and in the meantime has delved into the wellness industry with his own app.
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