BBC faces dilemma over new series of MasterChef
Gregg Wallace may have been sacked as MasterChef presenter after allegations of misconduct, but for the BBC there’s still a decision to be made over this year’s series.
It is widely reported to have been filmed in 2024 – with Wallace in it – before BBC News first revealed the allegations against him.
The BBC, for its part, is staying tight-lipped about what it will do.
The corporation has said it won’t comment until an inquiry into the allegations, ordered by MasterChef’s production company Banijay, is complete and the findings are published.
Wallace has apologised for using “inappropriate” language, but has said the report will clear him of “the most serious and sensational allegations”.
‘Tough decision’
But whatever the BBC decides to do with the unseen series, it’s an “extremely tough decision”, according to Max Goldbart, international TV editor at Deadline.
“They’re damned if they do show it, and damned if they don’t,” he says. “There are lots of competing objectives they’ll be thinking about, and those conversations will be happening right now.”
On the one hand, the BBC could go ahead and broadcast it as planned.
But this week, BBC News reported that 50 more people have come forward with fresh allegations of inappropriate comments, touching and groping – which Wallace denies. BBC News is editorially independent of the wider corporation.
Regardless of what the Banijay report concludes, Goldbart says it would be “very awkward” for the latest series to be beamed into people’s living rooms for weeks on end.
“There could be a backlash,” he says. “Not to mention how upsetting that might be for the women who’ve come forward with claims about him.”
One former MasterChef worker, who says Wallace pulled his trousers down in front of her, tells me it would show “a real lack of respect” to people like her if the series was aired.
Another, who says he planted a kiss on her forehead, says she would feel “disappointed and let down”, and as if her experiences were being disregarded.
But shelving the cooking show is not an easy decision either – and not only because it could cause uproar among fans.
For the production crew, who spent many weeks working on it, it is a waste of their time and efforts. And for the chefs who have taken part in it the latest amateur series, it would clearly also be deeply disappointing.
Irini Tzortzoglou, who won the 2019 competition, tells me that for her, the experience was “life-changing”.
She has gone on to judge awards, host retreats, and work as an olive oil sommelier, and says she is busier now than ever.
“I can’t imagine what it would be like for people who’ve waited all this time, biting their nails, only to be told that no-one is going to see your achievements, your stresses, your growth. It would be awful.”
iPlayer option
Thomasina Miers, who won the first series of MasterChef in 2005 and went on to co-found the Wahaca chain of Mexican restaurants, echoes her views.
“[Being on MasterChef] was great, it got me working in food, and I haven’t looked back,” she says. “It would be mad if they don’t show it. It’s a lot expecting people to turn up every day, give up their lives and income and not get paid, for it not to go out.”
A third option could be to put it on BBC iPlayer so it’s available for MasterChef fans to opt in to stream, but isn’t being actively pushed out on primetime TV.
Other broadcasters have done similar things before.
In 2021, ITV decided to pull the final episode of drama Viewpoint after allegations of sexual harassment were made in The Guardian against its star, Noel Clarke.
Clarke denies the allegations and is awaiting the result of his libel case against The Guardian.
The finale of Viewpoint was made available on the broadcaster’s streaming service for a limited time, for any viewers who wished to seek it out.
Goldbart says he can see the appeal of the iPlayer option.
“It’s a lot easier to bury stuff on on-demand than on linear TV,” he says, although he points out that there might be financial implications.
But Dorothy Byrne, former head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, says even that option presents challenges.
“If they think the person’s unacceptable, then I can’t see how putting it on iPlayer gets around that issue,” she tells me. “I would say on balance they can’t show it at all, but I hope there’s a way they can ensure all those people who took part in it don’t lose out on this opportunity, because I really feel sorry for them.
“Perhaps there is a way they could edit him out in a way that still allows it to be shown.”
The BBC found itself in a similar predicament in November, when the allegations against Wallace first surfaced.
At the time, the corporation made the decision to pull the Christmas specials of MasterChef, although the most recent series of MasterChef: The Professionals did continue to air.
“MasterChef is life-changing for the chefs that take part and the show is about more than one individual,” a BBC source said at the time.
The difference this time is that we’re not halfway through a series – and that makes the decision even harder.
What no-one seems to be questioning, though, is the long-term future of the show.
Earlier this week, Banijay held a dinner for journalists and media industry people.
The timing of the event, just hours after Wallace dropped a lengthy statement in advance of the Banijay report, was no doubt uncomfortable (one of the people there describes it to me as similar to “a wedding where the bride or groom had done a runner”).
But that same person tells me Banijay executives spoke about MasterChef and its new base in Birmingham, demonstrating their commitment to it.
When the Birmingham move was announced a few years ago, the BBC renewed the show through to 2028.
And food critic Grace Dent has already stepped in to host the next series of Celebrity MasterChef, indicating that version is also continuing.
“It’s not one of those shows which is defined by its presenter,” Goldbart says. “I personally feel it can continue. John Torode is very good, Grace Dent has filled in a lot, and it’s one of those rare beasts where the viewing figures on linear [TV] have held up.”
But for the current series, a decision will need to be taken soon.
“They’ll need to make an announcement when the report comes back for the sake of the wonderful people who took part,” says Byrne.
“This isn’t one of those things where you can endlessly delay.”
