To say that this year’s MasterChef UK has been an unmitigated calamity for the BBC feels like an understatement. In early July, Gregg Wallace was fired from the show after a series of sexual misconduct allegations, including one accusation of unwanted touching (45 out of 83 claims against him were upheld following an official report), leaving the BBC with a headache over whether to broadcast the latest series, which was filmed last autumn. It then emerged that the report into Wallace’s behaviour had also highlighted an accusation of racist language on the part of his co-host of 20 years, John Torode. The BBC swiftly dispensed with him, too, despite him saying that he doesn’t believe the incident happened.
The corporation confirmed in late July that it would broadcast the series anyway; one contestant, Sarah Shafi, was so appalled by the decision that she agreed to be edited out. Meanwhile, the broadcasting union Bectu said: “If [the BBC] are serious about addressing this industry-wide problem, broadcasters should not reward bad behaviour with primetime coverage.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, no advanced screeners were offered to the media; the first three episodes landed unannounced on BBC iPlayer on Wednesday morning, ahead of its 8pm broadcast on BBC One.
And so to the programme itself. Would the first episode be full of jarring jump-cuts, introduced to minimise the presence of Torode and Wallace? Would it seem as though the pair had just happened to wander on to the set now and again?
It began like any other series of MasterChef, with the narrator, India Fisher, introducing the latest “battle for the ultimate culinary prize” between 60 new contestants, over some characteristically tense music. As in previous series, Wallace and Torode featured prominently in the opening montage, alongside nervous contestants and lingering shots of plates buckling under the weight of jus and garnishes, with Torode saying: “This is the sort of stuff that dreams are made of,” and Wallace describing one dish as “a cracker of a job”.
As usual, the first challenge was “basic to brilliant”. As usual, Torode and Wallace introduced the conceit (contestants have to zhoosh up a workaday grocery item of their choosing). The duo stood and salivated at the prospect of digital marketing manager Thea’s gorgonzola risotto and recruiter Gon’s take on the Thai dish kaphrao. But there wasn’t as much in the way of witty repartee between the hosts and the contestants, unlike the previous series, which opened with one participant declaring that they “[couldn’t] wait to meet John and Gregg and hoping that Wallace would give their dish a “phwoar” of approval.
Nonetheless, both were definitely, firmly hosting the show. Wallace was limited to asking questions rather than offering up punchlines, but he delivered his usual gushing critiques. Speaking of business development manager Gemma’s mackerel-heavy take on the Malaysian national dish, nasi lemak, he said: “I could dip bread in this all day.” Torode quibbled over whether vocal coach Beth’s chocolate and orange ganache tart was, in fact, merely a chocolate tart. Overall, very much business as usual.
Gon and Shaun, a digital marketing manager, received the first aprons and progressed to the next round. Then it was on to the mystery box challenge, with the amateur cooks charged with fashioning a dish from any or all of trout, beetroot and chocolate. As always, there was some light chat from Torode and Wallace about the sort of mistakes the contestants might make, with comments that seemed far from truncated. “We have a trout-off!” declared Torode as four contestants reached for the fish. Wallace quizzed writer Penelope about her skills with invention and asked whether her couscous was likely to turn into porridge.
The critiques were largely effusive, even if Torode did have to console an overwhelmed Thea with the words: “It’s a big thing, isn’t it MasterChef?” Those words would take on a greater meaning in the months after filming. Thea was booted off alongside Gemma, with Penelope and Beth bagging the next two aprons.
In the final round, the four remaining contenders cooked for the 2024 champion, Brin Pirathapan, and the finalists Chris Willoughby and Louise Lyons Macleod. As the hosts fawned over Gon’s Thai-influenced steak tartare and risotto and Shaun’s scissor-cut noodles, it was just like old times.
Pirathapan, Willoughby and Lyons Macleod took centre stage as the food started to appear, but not in a way that seemed out of the ordinary for the show’s guest judges. Still, their presence was surely a boon to Banijay, the producer of the show, which could give over a huge chunk of the episode’s final 20 minutes to their discussions about what makes a good tartare and whether fish and apples should ever be on the same plate.
But there was still much time given over to Wallace and Torode, speaking with their mouths half-full, raving over a chicken dish that Wallace said he could have eaten by the kilo. By the time the names of the three contestants advancing to the next stage of the competition were announced over a bed of uplifting plinky-plonk music, it was easy to forget that there had ever been a national controversy.
It was always going to be a challenge to be faithful to the series while also editing out the two people at the centre of it, but if episode one is anything to go by, it seems the BBC and Banijay have decided essentially to ignore the problem and hope that putting out more or less the same show as ever will suffice. Maybe further chopping the contributions of Wallace and Torode would have felt ludicrous, but it might also have been the right thing to do. Instead, the BBC is getting to have its chocolate ganache tart and eat it. Still, you imagine the ratings will be astronomical. Phwoar indeed.
