John Torode was left “heartbroken” after discovering he had been sacked from MasterChef online.
Shortly after news broke of the celebrity chef being dropped from the cookery show, he released a statement revealing he had not “heard from anyone at the BBC” or the production company behind the series.
It’s now been reported that Torode’s agent was called 11 minutes before his sacking was announced to the public and that his agent “hadn’t a chance to call him”.
“He read about it on the BBC News website,” a source told The Sun. “Obviously he’s heartbroken. He feels he’s been made a scapegoat off the back of the Gregg Wallace report.”
The Independent has contacted the BBC, Banijay UK and Torode for comment.
Torode, 59, was fired for using “an extremely offensive racist term”, which the chef said he has “no recollection” of making.
The allegation against him was upheld after being made during a seven-month investigation into the show, which substantiated 45 claims of misconduct against his co-host Wallace, including one of unwelcome physical contact.
Wallace, who joined the revamped version of the show with Torode in 2005, has also been fired.
On Monday (14 July), Torode confirmed that he was being investigated over his language, but said he was “shocked and saddened” by the allegation and said he knows any racial language “is wholly unacceptable in any environment”.
After being dropped from the show without consultation, he said: “I’d hoped that I’d have some say in my exit from a show I’ve worked on since its relaunch in 2005, but events in the last few days seem to have prevented that.”
“Over the past few months, I have been considering my life and the shape of it now and in the future,” he continued, revealing it was “time to pass the cutlery to someone else”.
Torode said he “will watch fondly from afar as I now focus on the many other exciting projects that I have been working towards”, adding that his “tummy will be grateful for a rest after 20 years of eating”.
He said his time on the show has been “a joy” and revealed that he had recently filmed a series of Celebrity MasterChef with Wallace’s replacement Grace Dent as well as two Christmas specials.
Torode has also filmed a MasterChef series with Wallace, the fate of which is currently unknown. BBC director-general Tim Davie said a decision is yet to be made about its broadcast but explained on Tuesday (15 July) that the “difficulty” surrounds the chef participants who spent time away from their jobs to be on the show.
In a statement , the BBC said that the allegation against Torode involved “an extremely offensive racist term being used in the workplace” and was investigated and substantiated by the independent investigation led by the law firm, Lewis Silkin.
“The BBC takes this upheld finding extremely seriously. We will not tolerate racist language of any kind and, as we have already said, we told Banijay UK, the makers of MasterChef, that action must be taken. John Torode’s contract on MasterChef will not be renewed.”
Meanwhile, more than half of the 83 allegations against Wallace, including inappropriate sexual language and being in a state of undress, were upheld.
The TV personality said he is “deeply sorry for any distress” caused and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate” anyone with his behaviour.
