Gregg Wallace and John Torode “were never friends”, a former MasterChef employee has revealed.
Wallace and Torode were sacked as presenters of the cookery show this week after a seven-month investigation upheld allegations made against the pair.
In total, there were 45 against Wallace and one against Torode. More than half of the 83 allegations levied against Wallace were substantiated.
The report also upheld an accusation of “offensive racist language” allegedly used by Torode.
The fallout over MasterChef continues with reports that John Torode plans to sue the BBC after he was fired and is determined to clear his name following the allegation that he used an “extremely offensive racist term” in 2018.
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) July 17, 2025
Broadcaster Aasmah Mir appeared on Celebrity… pic.twitter.com/B8swv81yX7
The TV chef has said he had “no recollection” of the incident.
Torode said he was “shocked and saddened” by the racist slur claim, adding that he knows any racial language “is wholly unacceptable in any environment”.
In the wake of the findings, the spotlight has been placed on Wallace and Torode’s working relationship, with a source telling BBC News: “Clearly they had a good chemistry when the cameras were rolling. But you rarely saw them interact when the cameras were off.”
Another anonymous person who worked on the show claimed their dynamic “seemed off”, adding that Torode would roll his eyes when Wallace made alleged inappropriate comments.
Recommended reading:
- Ryanair and Jet2 ban hot drinks from flights for 'safety reasons'
- Is Greece still the place to go for the best holiday? Here's my salty experience
The relationship between Torode and Wallace, who both presented the revamped cooking programme since 2005, has always been a point of confusion among viewers.
Despite being Wallace’s best man in 2016, Torode later claimed he had never been friends with his co-host, telling The Mirror in 2017: “We’ve not been to each other’s houses.
"If we go away to somewhere like South Africa, we do things separately. If we do go out for a drink, I’ll invariably be at one end of a big old table and he’ll be at the other.”
Share