Dan Walker’s Channel 5 co-anchor accuses him of sexism, misogyny, and bullying

Dan Walker is reportedly set to appear at an employment tribunal after being accused of sexism, misogyny, and bullying by his Channel 5 co-anchor.

The former BBC Breakfast host and Strictly Come Dancing star will face his former Channel 5 News co–anchor Claudia–Liza Vanderpuije at a hearing in London on 20 April.

The hearing is expected to last up to four days.

An ITN spokesperson told Metro: ‘This claim, which is denied in full, will be addressed through the tribunal process.’
A source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘Dan absolutely denies any sexism, misogyny, racism or bullying.

It has been hanging over him for some years now.

‘He will be at London Central tribunal later this month.

Nobody wants this but he will be there to tell the judge the truth.

‘There will be tonnes of witness statements which will talk to Dan’s character.

He has been absolutely stunned with the amount of people willing to support him.

He has been stunned and actually very upset to be accused of such things.’
Vanderpuije’s left Channel 5 in 2023 after five years, with her final year spent presenting alongside Walker.

The Mail on Sunday reports that she has hired Phillip Schofield’s former lawyer Jonathan Coad who has tried to settle the complaint twice, but has been turned down.

Vanderpuije also reportedly asked her Instagram followers to message her if they wanted to ‘know more about the allegations’ two weeks ago.

Walker was hit by ‘a multi-pronged complaint’ in 2024 which led network bosses to bring in investigators.

At the time, an industry source told The Sun that the investigation had ‘sent shockwaves round Channel 5 and ITN’.

‘He was devastated and totally stunned to be dragged into this,’ the insider said.

‘Dan knew about the complaint last year, but he was initially told all the claims related to events before he joined Channel 5.

Ultimately, it was ruled by the HR-led probe that the former Strictly Come Dancing star had done nothing wrong.

After the dad-of-three was ‘completely exonerated’ of any wrongdoing, an investigator said of the claims from the unnamed co-worker in the media: ‘There is a lack of evidence to support allegations.’
Dan was reluctant to talk about the incident but discussed his feelings in an interview with The Telegraph.

‘I haven’t really talked about it, but that was fully investigated and everything was completely incorrect and I was entirely vindicated by an independent inquiry,’ he began.

‘So yeah, that’s not nice, but you hold on to what you know the truth is and ultimately the truth is the important thing.’
Dan – who competed in Strictly in 2021 with pro partner Nadiya Bychkova – added that hanging on for the findings of the inquiry ‘wasn’t easy’.

However, he held onto the fact that he knew the truth, saying: ‘I know I’m not that person, so… And yeah there’s days you worry about that but also you know that that’s a picture you don’t recognise, and nobody you’ve ever worked with recognises.’
Metro has contacted Dan Walker and Claudia–Liza Vanderpuije for comment.
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