Gavin Grey: UK Correspondent on the John Torode allegations, future of the latest Masterchef UK season

The future of the latest BBC MasterChef UK series is up in the air.  

John Torode is leaving after a report upheld allegations he used an "extremely offensive racist term". 

It comes after an independent report substantiated 45 of 83 allegations about the behaviour of former co-judge Gregg Wallace. 

UK correspondent, Gavin Grey told Andrew Dickens there are calls to scrap the already filmed series.   

But he says competitors and the winner have worked hard to get there, and ideas around replacing them with voice overs will be almost impossible.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
To Kevin Gray from the UK. Good moning to you,
Kevin either Andrew Well fresh from the Greg wall Let's
take a look at my junk controversy Mastership UK. Here's
a new scandal, yep.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm afraid it does, plunging the show into absolute chaos
because the series has already been filmed with both Greg
Wallace but also John to Road Because today Juron Troad
has been sacked as the Master Chef presenter. It was
an allegation against him in what it was said that
he had used an extremely offensive racist term. Now this

(00:31):
allegation was upheld, although John to Road, the TV chefer,
said he had no recollection of the incident and he
said I do not believe that it happened. However, the
show's production company says it and the BBC agreed that
his contract on the show will not be renewed. So yeah,
after these allegations, dozens of allegations against Greg Wallace, him

(00:53):
being sacked. Now John to Road apparently being offered to
told by bosses to resign he refused, has now been
sacked as well. This is the latest in a long
line of controversies at the BBC, including the Bob Villains
set at Glastonbury where they were leading Chance of Death
Death to the IDF and the BBC didn't pull the plug.

(01:15):
And also a Garza documentary that they didn't realize was
actually hosted by the son of somebody in Hammers. So
I'm afraid dark days at the BBC. They've got a
lot of patching up to do.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
What are they going to do with the Master chif
UK TV series. It's all in the cairn. They've filmed
it with Deode and Wallace. Are they just not going
to show it? Is this a glorious waste of money?

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Well, that's what some people are demanding. But on the
other hand, of course, you know a lot of those
amateur chefs that really worked hard to get there. Imagine
if you won it and then found ouctually that it
wasn't going to be aired, or there wasn't even going
to be mentioned that you'd won it. They's talk about
perhaps replacing them with voiceovers or but it's going to
be almost impossible to do that. If they show it,
people are going to be up in arms. If they

(01:57):
don't show it, people are going to be up in arms.
Either way. I advise them to make a decision and
make it quickly.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Now you remember the story of that tree, the sycamore
get tree. This is a tree that was in between
two hillicks and you could take a photograph and that
looked beautiful. Was in northeast England and a couple of
monters winn cut it down. What's happened to them?

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, I mean they were described in court as taking
moronic action, and I think most people would agree. A
tree that was really a symbol of romance for so many,
was famous in Hollywood. If you've ever seen it, you'll
realize that. Of course it just looked stunning, and two
men set out one night in September and cut it down.
Why we still don't know, but morons, I think most

(02:39):
people would agree as a good adjective. One was age
thirty nine and the other thirty two, both from Cumbria
in the northwest of England, convicted of criminal damage after
filming themselves using a chainsaw to illegally fell the landmark
tree right on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, causing immense damage.
Now today they have been jailed for four years and
three months in what the judge thought was probably just

(03:03):
sheer bravado the judge rejecting a claim of drunken stupidity
and saying it was done for some sort of a thrill.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
What a thrill exactly? And I guess when they go
to prison they can be put on the garden detail
for four years.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Not very good.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, and I thank you Gavin Gray from the UK.
For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
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Speaker 2 (03:25):
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