New MasterChef host Grace Dent has praised John Torode as “one of the kindest, most concerned, clever, thoughtful men” despite his sacking from the show over a racial slur. Dent, who co-presents the new series of Celebrity MasterChef with Torode, said the series was filmed before his dismissal following a complaint that he used “an extremely offensive racist term” during production. Torode has said he has “no recollection” of using the term.
Dent was less complimentary about Gregg Wallace, who was dropped from the BBC cooking franchise after more than half of 83 complaints about his off-screen behaviour were upheld. A July report detailed allegations of inappropriate behaviour, including making sexual jokes and asking for phone numbers of female production staff. Dent said that after reading the report, her “recollections of having a nice time with him… is pretty much irrelevant”.
Dent added that she kept her distance from Wallace during production of the series, on which she originally served as a recurring critic. “He said an awful lot, and that was during the point when I was starting my new [MasterChef] job and I utterly cut myself off from all of that,” she explained.
Dent is currently filming her first edition of the regular MasterChef as presenter, alongside chef Anna Haugh, to be broadcast in 2026. She noted that having two women present the show will give it a very different flavour, describing the previous environment as “utter male energy all the time”.
In September, Wallace launched legal action over his sacking, suing the BBC for damages, claiming he had experienced “distress and harassment”. He had earlier alleged that he was regularly “touched and groped” by female fans and subjected to “inappropriate” remarks by female contestants.
