BBC bosses appear committed to MasterChef for the coming years despite the show scandal of recent weeks
MasterChef is safe on the BBC until at least 2028, TV experts have insisted, despite it currently having a recipe for disaster.
The hit cooking show has had several weeks of controversy with first Gregg Wallace and then co-host John Torode both being axed from the series following an independent report into their behaviour.
Production company Banijay and the BBC have two series of the show completed and there have been many questions about if they will air.
Industry website Deadline says the current contract with Banijay until 2028 will continue and bosses are keen to keep the show as it has a young audience they would struggle to capture with a newly launch show. A second source told the Mirror they are confident the MasterChef brand is here to stay “for the long term” on the BBC.
Insiders also insist they will do everything they can to screen the competitions which have already taken place, one series with both Wallace and Torode and a celeb version with Torode and Grace Dent.
“Having a civilian MasterChef in the can is the absolute worst position for them to be in,” a senior producer source who used to work on the show told Deadline.
Behind closed doors, the BBC is said to be balancing a number of factors: the welfare of those who made allegations, the expectations of chefs who competed in Season 21, and audience appetite for the cooking contest.
They could also face legal challenges from competitors if the show does not air. The report also hit back at claims Torode was “blindsided” with his sacking, as discussions are said to have been going on for weeks.
The Times and other reports on Thursday night claimed Torode was fired after he used the ’N word’. Production company Banijay said on Tuesday that an investigation into his co-star Gregg Wallace’s behaviour by firm Lewis Silkin had “substantiated an accusation of highly offensive racist language against” John, 59. John however said in a statement: “I have no recollection of what I’m accused of.”
It’s now been suggested that John, who had co-hosted the cooking show since 2005, used the N-word twice. John is said to vehemently deny ever using the racial slur. Earlier this week John came forward as the person alleged to have used racist language, after the allegation was upheld in a report into John’s colleague Gregg Wallace’s behaviour.
Deadline also discussed the possibility of new hosts for the show, with stand-in Grace Dent obviously in pole position for one slot. The show is filmed in Birmingham which would make drummer Alison Hammond a good fit. Food podcaster and comedian Ed Gamble has been a guest on the show or Matt Tebbutt from Saturday Kitchen were also described as the type of people who could star alongside Grace in possible new line ups.
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