MasterChef series filmed last year to be broadcast after allegations against presenters upheld | Ents & Arts News

A series of MasterChef filmed last year, before allegations against presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode were upheld, will be broadcast.

Both Wallace and Torode will still feature in the upcoming series, but it is understood that the edit will focus on the contestants.

The amateur series of MasterChef will be aired on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 6 August, but no decision has been made yet on airing the celebrity series and Christmas special, with plans to be confirmed later this year, the BBC said.

A spokesperson for the broadcaster said airing the series “has not been an easy decision in the circumstances and we appreciate not everyone will agree with it”.

The broadcaster said showing the series “in no way diminishes our view of the seriousness of the upheld findings against both presenters”, adding that it has been “very clear on the standard of behaviour” expected of employees.

But the BBC believes that airing the series “is the right thing to do for these cooks”.

“We want them to be properly recognised and give the audience the choice to watch the series,” the spokesperson said.

The broadcaster’s statement comes a week after it announced that Torode’s contract on MasterChef would not be renewed after an allegation he used an “extremely offensive racist term” was upheld.

The 59-year-old presenter confirmed he was the subject of an allegation about using racist language that was upheld as part of a review carried out by law firm Lewis Silkin into the alleged behaviour of his MasterChef co-presenter Wallace.

Torode insisted he had “absolutely no recollection” of the alleged incident involving him, and he “did not believe that it happened,” adding “racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment”.

The report, commissioned by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK, found 45 out of 83 allegations against Wallace, 60, were substantiated.

Wallace said he’s “deeply sorry” for causing any distress, and he never set out to “harm or humiliate”.

While the majority of the substantiated claims related to inappropriate sexual language and humour, one related to “unwanted physical contact”, and three were about being “in a state of undress”.

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Two weeks ago, it emerged Wallace had been sacked as a MasterChef presenter, with reports of more than 50 fresh allegations against him.

In a statement, Wallace said “some of (his) humour and language missed the mark”, but he said, after nearly 20 years on MasterChef, “I now see that certain patterns, shaped by traits I’ve only recently begun to understand, may have been misread”.