Richard Osman has claimed that John Torode was sacked from MasterChef for using the “worst racial slur there is”, a moment the celebrity chef claims he has “no recollection” of.
Torode’s firing from the series arrived following a seven-month investigation into the behaviour of his co-star Gregg Wallace, which upheld an allegation that Torode had used racist language.
Speaking on a special edition of The Rest is Entertainment podcast, which covered the MasterChef controversy, author and presenter Osman said: “On this particular occasion, it’s not ‘woke gone mad’. You know, he used, I think, probably the worst racial slur there is. And they found it to be substantively true.”
The Pointless host added: “They found evidence that they were happy with, that was true. He is saying, ‘I definitely didn’t do it, I certainly can’t remember it.’ But that one was upheld.”
Osman also claimed that Torode was the subject of “all sorts” of complaints but Banijay’s investigation couldn’t uphold them because they “couldn’t say for certain they believed it happened”.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Osman also shared what he thinks will happen with the already recorded episodes of MasterChef, which Torode and Wallace front.
He said: “The feeling at the BBC and the feeling at Banijay, having talked to everyone who has been on that show, is they would like to show it because they've spoken to, I think, pretty much every single contestant. The contestants are saying: ‘We would be gutted if this doesn't go out.’”
He added that he expects the BBC to make the decision “quickly” but that he is “fairly confident in saying that the current plan is to show that series” based on the wishes of the contestants.
On Tuesday (15 July), BBC director-general Tim Davie told BBC News that, while he was not directly involved with the matter, he was told of the recommendation to not renew Torode’s contract and was “happy that the team were taking action”.
When asked exactly what Torode had said, Davie replied: “I’m not going to give you the exact term, because I think, frankly, it was a serious racist term, which does not get to be acceptable in any way, shape or form.”
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”.
Torode also claimed he discovered he’d been fired after reading media reports online.
His agent was reportedly called 11 minutes before his sacking was announced to the public and “hadn’t [had] a chance to call him” before the BBC and MasterChef production company Banijay UK released their statements.
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.”
