A MasterChef contestant who has been edited out of the forthcoming series has now claimed that show bosses “pressured” her into supporting its broadcast.
Sarah Shafi was cut out of the BBC One cooking programme, after she asked for the 2025 series not to be shown amid the scandal surrounding its host Gregg Wallace.
In July, an independent report substantiated 45 allegations against Wallace, including claims of inappropriate sexual language and one incident of unwelcome physical contact. He has been sacked by the BBC, but the broadcaster has taken the controversial decision to still air the new series of MasterChef, filmed last year.
Speaking in an interview published in The Guardian on Thursday morning (31 July), Shafi explained that, during a “heated conversation” with a producer, she was urged to think about the life-changing opportunity the show provided to some contestants, and was then told about the “potential solution” to edit her out of the programme, which she eventually agreed to as the BBC insisted on airing the show.
Last night, during an appearance on Newsnight, Shafi went further, saying: “I felt I was being pressurised into saying yes [to the programme going ahead]. They were saying, ‘These people's lives have been changed,’ well, some people's lives. There were 50 contestants, I'm one of them, my life hasn't changed, so it's probably the top 10 people.”
She added: “I felt like I was being coerced into saying, ‘Yes, go ahead then, go on then.’”
Explaining that she was “flabbergasted” by the producer’s suggested solution, which was to edit her out of the show, Shafi said: “This is a woman being edited out, this is, again, the woman getting silenced into extinction.
“And it's happening time and time again. ‘Oh, this is a solution. We can put our show out and we can shut her up.’
“I'm sorry, but I said that's not a solution, it goes against the absolute root concern, which is about enabling environments and the BBC getting away with it.”
The BBC said Banijay, the company that produces MasterChef, had consulted with all the contestants before the decision to run the series was made.
It said: “We are sorry that this contestant does not support the decision and we are grateful she raised this with both the BBC and Banijay.”
Shafi also said that her experience on the show “wasn't a good one” and that being on it felt like “a boys' game”.
“I went there being faithful to food, not to be eyed up and ogled, it just felt that was very uncomfortable for me,” she said. When asked to clarify who she was referring to, she said: “That was with Gregg Wallace.”
When approached by The Independent for comment, a representative for Banijay said: “We are sorry that Sarah does not support the decision to air this series of MasterChef. We have carefully considered her concerns and discussed them with the BBC.
“We have no record of Sarah raising concerns with producers at the time of filming, however when raised during the formal investigation process, we thoroughly assessed her claims including reviewing relevant programme rushes with Sarah. These do not support her version of events regarding inappropriate comments or actions by Gregg Wallace which Sarah has acknowledged.
“Having consulted with all contributors in the series ahead of the decision being made to broadcast, the resounding feeling from those taking part was support for airing the series.
“The BBC has made clear that showing the series no way diminishes the seriousness of the upheld findings against both presenters and Banijay UK supports this view. However, we feel that the incredible contribution of the cooks taking part in the show deserves to be recognised.”
The Independent has approached the BBC and Wallace for comment about these new claims.
MasterChef’s 21st series is currently due to begin on BBC One on Wednesday 6 August.
