Speculation has erupted about who will front MasterChef after John Torode was sensationally dropped by the BBC following the upholding of an allegation that he had used an “extremely offensive racist term” during his time on the show in 2018.
The celebrity chef said he had not been informed about his sacking from the BBC or the cookery show’s production company Banijay UK, and instead learnt the news while reading media reports.
It comes shortly after his co-host Gregg Wallace was also axed after an investigation upheld 45 allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him including one of unwelcome physical contact. Wallace said he was “deeply sorry” in response to the report.
Questions remain about who will replace the presenters, who have both hosted the show together since it was revamped in 2005. There is also uncertainty about the future of a series recorded prior to the scandal being made public. While Grace Dent was confirmed as Wallace’s replacement on Celebrity MasterCheflast year, the BBC has not confirmed the pair’s replacement on the main show, MasterChef.
Below we’ve compiled a list of the likely frontrunners.
The Independent has contacted the BBC and Banijay for comment.
Matt Tebutt
Reports earlier this year suggested that Wallace’s competitor could be Saturday Kitchen star Matt Tebutt. The 51-year-old took over Saturday Kitchen in 2017 after James Martin, 52, left the BBC programme to front James Martin’s Saturday Morning on ITV.
“Matt rose to the challenge of coming into Saturday Kitchen after it was previously hosted by another big name in the world of food, James Martin,” a TV insider told The Sun in March.
“He managed the feat of making it his own and almost making viewers forget who his predecessor was — now Beeb bosses, and the show producers Banijay, will be hoping he can work the same magic on MasterChef.”
Grace Dent
After replacing Wallace on the Celebrity version of the show, many fans have called for the host to take over from him on MasterChef, too. Dent regularly appears as a critic on MasterChef and is a favourite with fans for her straight-shooting comments. Last year, she switched roles and served as a contestant on the show’s spin-off, MasterChef: The Battle of the Critics.
Andi Oliver
According to bookies at whataretheodds.co.uk, Great British Menu host Oliver is the favourite to take over from the hosts. She would make history as the first ever Black woman to present the programme. She’s also a former member of the band Rip Rig + Panic and hosts the podcast Stirring it Up with her daughter Miquita Oliver.
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Tom Kerridge
The English Chef runs his own pub, the Hand and Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. He has appeared on MasterChef, Great British Menu and Saturday Kitchen. Kerridge has presented BBC programmes How to Lose Weight for Good, Top of the Shop, Bake Off:Crème de la Crème and currently presents Food and Drink on BBC Two.
Poppy O’Toole
Michelin-trained chef O’Toole has self-titled herself as the “Potato Queen” online and could bring in a much younger audience were the BBC looking to overhaul the show.
Others in the running inclue Gordon Ramsay’s protegee Angela Hartnett, Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain (which may be unlikely after she hit out at the corporation over their decision to not recommission her show), BBC chef James Martin, fan-favourite Nigella Lawson, MasterChef: The Professionals judge Marcus Wareing, and Celebrity MasterChef winner and wife of Torode, Lisa Faulkner. Reddit users have also suggested MasterChef: The Professionals judge Monica Galetti, Irish chef and TV personality Anna Haugh and critics including Jay Rayner.
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