{"id":268257,"date":"2025-07-17T03:17:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T03:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/268257\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T03:17:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T03:17:21","slug":"inside-the-masterchef-scandal-that-brought-down-john-torode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/268257\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the MasterChef scandal that brought down John Torode"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rumours that John Torode\u2019s future at MasterChef was in doubt were already rumbling when production bosses hosted a rooftop dinner for screen stars and industry insiders in central London last Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Top of the menu for discussion was Gregg Wallace, who hours earlier had attacked BBC News for \u201cchasing slanderous clickbait\u201d as it published a report upholding allegations about his behaviour from 45 individuals.<\/p>\n

However, on the sidelines bosses were being pressed about the future of his longstanding co-presenter. The suggestion was that Torode could also be implicated in the independent investigation over allegations of racism.<\/p>\n

One senior producer at the event sought to play down the idea that there was no future for Torode on the show amid claims that an \u201cangry and isolated\u201d Wallace could be seen as attempting to sabotage his former co-presenter.<\/p>\n

Yet on Tuesday it was confirmed Torode\u2019s contract would not be renewed<\/a> with MasterChef after two decades, just 24 hours after Wallace\u2019s contract was ended.<\/p>\n

The previous day Torode had outed himself as the individual found to have used \u201cextremely offensive racist language in the workplace<\/a>\u201d during an incident in 2018, after the publication of the report by the law firm Lewis Silkin.<\/p>\n

Of eight allegations made against the 59-year-old between 2012 and 2019, investigators classed two as not substantiated and six as having insufficient evidence.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday night it emerged that Torode is talking to employment lawyers about taking legal action against the BBC over his sacking. A source told The Mirror: \u201cJohn is preparing to launch the lawsuit against the BBC. He wants to pursue them for unfair dismissal. He\u2019s telling people there is no proof of his supposed comment. It was not in a work capacity, it was just hearsay. John is determined to clear his name.\u201d<\/p>\n

ITV is understood to be standing by Torode. John and Lisa\u2019s Weekend Kitchen, which Torode presents with his wife, Lisa Faulkner, will continue as normal. The next episode goes out on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

Torode will continue to present John and Lisa\u2019s Weekend Kitchen on ITV<\/p>\n

DAVE J HOGAN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Executives at the broadcaster held discussions about the presenter\u2019s future on Tuesday night and an ITV source told The Daily Telegraph: \u201cThere aren\u2019t any planned changes to our schedules.\u201d ITV has never received any complaints about Torode\u2019s conduct on one of its shows, it is understood.<\/p>\n

Bosses at Banijay, the television production company, had recognised that Torode could no longer continue on MasterChef after its findings. However, their primary focus was on Wallace<\/a>, who was the original reason the investigation had been launched, and had 45 complaints against him upheld.<\/p>\n

They were said to have been further bogged down by Torode after he was understood to have involved lawyers in an apparent attempt to avoid being dragged into the scandal surrounding his co-presenter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end it was easier for us to say that\u2019s that,\u201d one BBC source said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have the direct relationship with him that Banijay did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another added: \u201cWe saw the allegations, we took them very seriously and we were clear it needed to be dealt with. Do you want to drag the show through months of \u2018he said, she said\u2019 or do you just want to move on?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BBC is at an inflection point. You need to bring people with you on that transition and show them where the new line has been drawn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The writing was on the wall for Torode when Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, distanced himself from the star at the unveiling of the BBC\u2019s annual report<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Later that day the BBC announced Torode\u2019s contract would not be renewed. \u201cFrankly it was a serious racist term which does not get to be acceptable in any way, shape or form,\u201d Davie later told BBC News.<\/p>\n

Writing on Instagram on Tuesday, Torode said that the person he had been speaking with did not believe that his language was intended in a malicious way and that he apologised immediately afterwards.<\/p>\n

Torode had claimed that he only learnt that his contract was not being renewed after \u201cseeing and reading\u201d public statements, having previously said: \u201cI have absolutely no recollection of any of this and I do not believe that it happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d hoped that I\u2019d have some say in my exit from a show I\u2019ve worked on since its relaunch in 2005, but events in the last few days seem to have prevented that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This assessment was widely disputed by sources close to the situation. They said that Torode had been made well aware that his future on the show was drawing to a close as a result of the report\u2019s finding. \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking to him about this for weeks. He was certainly not blindsided,\u201d said one.<\/p>\n

The furore has unsettled staff at the production company, with Patrick Holland, the Banijay UK chief executive, writing to offer support to anyone affected by recent events.<\/p>\n

Reports that Torode had been told to claim that he suffered from mental health problems were wide of the mark, Holland said.<\/p>\n

Several Banijay staffers said that it had been a difficult period for those who work on the show. One said: \u201cThe right decision has been made and they just need to draw a line under it. It\u2019s a very difficult time for everyone who works on the show \u2014 the vast majority of whom had absolutely nothing to do with what has gone on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davie said that he believed MasterChef had a future with the broadcaster beyond 2028, when its deal runs out. \u201cA great programme that\u2019s loved by audiences is much bigger than individuals,\u201d he said. \u201cIt absolutely can survive and prosper, but we\u2019ve got to make sure we\u2019re in the right place in terms of the culture of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commitment will come as a relief to Banijay bosses. MasterChef was worth almost \u00a390 million to the producer last year \u2014 6 per cent of its total revenues.<\/p>\n

Hopes are high internally that Grace Dent will stay on as a permanent host after she was parachuted in as a replacement for Wallace on the latest series of Celebrity MasterChef, which has finished filming.<\/p>\n

Production is expected to start on the main series later in the autumn.<\/p>\n

\"Andi<\/p>\n

Andi Oliver<\/p>\n

TYLER BARTLAM\/BBC<\/p>\n

Matt Tebbutt<\/p>\n

Best known as the affable host of the BBC\u2019s Saturday Kitchen, the growing profile of Tebbutt, 51, makes him a strong contender for an expanded role.<\/p>\n

Andi Oliver<\/p>\n

The 62-year-old Great British Menu presenter has been described as a potential \u201clandmark appointment\u201d by Dave James,an odds analyst at Whataretheodds.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tom Kerridge<\/p>\n

The 51-year-old owner of two Michelin-starred pubs has previously appeared as a guest on MasterChef: The Professionals, along with an array of BBC food programmes including Great British Menu. <\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Poppy O\u2019Toole<\/p>\n

CHRIS TERRY\/JAMIE OLIVER ENTERPRISES LTD<\/p>\n

Poppy O\u2019Toole<\/p>\n

The Michelin-trained 31-year-old is known as Poppy Cooks to her 1.3 million Instagram fans, where she has appeal to younger audiences. She may be a long shot but MasterChef\u2019s move to Birmingham could count in the Midlander\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n

Nadiya Hussain<\/p>\n

An outside bet after the former Great British Bake Off winner\u2019s comments on Tuesday, in which Hussain, 40, accused BBC bosses of only \u201ckeeping you until you\u2019re of no use\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rumours that John Torode\u2019s future at MasterChef was in doubt were already rumbling when production bosses hosted a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,12,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-268257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114866411553944965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}