MasterChef returns tonight with Gregg Wallace and John Torode as its judges, with the new series still airing following the co-hosts’ respective departures from the BBC show
So after all that…the show is basically the same apart from some minor tweaks. There are fewer jokes, a little less banter perhaps. But Gregg Wallace and John Torode are still very much front and centre of the new MasterChef series.
The BBC say the decision to air it at all is what the contestants wanted (bar one who demanded they were edited out). What a load of tosh.
This is all about what the BBC wanted: namely, saving money. Scrapping this series would have left a gaping – and very expensive – hole in the schedule for months on end.
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The decision to show the series is also a kick in the teeth to all those who complained about the dodgy duo. Let’s not forget that more than 40 complaints against Wallace were upheld, including one of unwelcome physical contact and another three of being in a state of undress.
But there only appears to be a light touch editing of the former greengrocer. It’s perhaps most apparent when he floats around the contestants’ work stations. Whereas he would usually have a joke with them, he is strangely mute after his opening question.
In the first episode alone, there is a Black contestant, as well one who came to the UK from Thailand aged seven. How do they feel now watching back Torode – sacked after using a “severely offensive racist term” – judging their food?
Wallace, too, was alleged to have said culturally insensitive words. But should we really be surprised the BBC failed to strike this pair from our screens altogether despite their bad behaviour?
After all, execs stood by Brendan O’Carroll after he said the N-word during a read-through of Mrs Brown’s Boys which caused a Black staff member to quit. That show – like Masterchef – is big business, and a guaranteed ratings winner.
Who cares about racism – or men dropping their trousers – when it comes to the small matter of cold, hard cash…
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