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He stepped in to judge on MasterChef: The Professionals following Greg Wallace’s firing, but Matt Tebbutt won’t be returning to the show after hosting for just one series.
The long-running BBC cookery competition has found itself at the centre of a scandal in recent years after Wallace was let go from the franchise over historic allegations of misconduct.
Brought in to replace Wallace on the 2026 series, which is currently airing, was chef-turned-food-presenter Tebbutt. Tebbutt had previously worked under Marco Pierre White and Alastair Little and ran his own pub before swapping cheffing for work as a TV presenter on the likes of Saturday Kitchen.
The 52-year-old came on board at MasterChef‘s pro chef spin-off in February, joining Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti on the judging panel. However, on Wednesday (11 February), Tebbutt confirmed that he will not be returning in a full-time judging role on the next series.
“A lot of lovely people have contacted me about not doing the next series of MasterChef: The Professionals,” he wrote on Instagram.
“I was only ever doing one series and I loved judging on it and will continue working with MasterChef.”
Wallace first stepped away from MasterChef in late 2024, after the BBC received a number of complaints about his conduct on the show. He was replaced by restaurant critic Grace Dent on the celebrity edition of the show, and also dropped as an ambassador for the charity Ambitious about Autism.
A total of 83 allegations were made against the presenter in total, with 45 being upheld in a July 2025 report. This included one of unwelcome physical contact and several claims of inappropriate sexual language and humour.
In October, Wallace sued the BBC and its subsidiary BBC Studios Distribution Limited over his firing from MasterChef, initially claiming that the broadcaster had failed to comply with a request for copies of his personal data and caused him “distress and harassment”. He was originally seeking £10,000 in damages.
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However, ahead of his hearing last month, Wallace discontinued his damages claim, with a BBC spokesperson confirming that he was not receiving “any payment in costs or damages from either BBC or BBC Studios”.
