On 14 July 2025, hours after an independent investigation confirmed that a racist language allegation against him had been upheld, John Torode posted to Instagram. He said he had absolutely no recollection of the incident and did not believe it had ever taken place. The BBC cancelled his MasterChef contract the following afternoon.
He has given no public statement since September 2025.
Those two Instagram posts are the complete public record of what he said. Here is the full account.
| Allegation | Use of a racist slur, described by the BBC as “an extremely offensive racist term” |
| Alleged incident | Stated by Banijay UK as 2018; Torode said the inquiry could not confirm any date or year |
| Investigation firm | Lewis Silkin, commissioned by Banijay UK |
| Investigation scope | 7 months, 78 witnesses, 83 allegations against Wallace |
| Torode’s position in report | One of 10 standalone findings examined; 2 upheld, including his |
| BBC decision | Contract not renewed, confirmed 15 July 2025 |
| Legal proceedings | None filed as of April 2026 |
Table of Contents
John Torode’s Full Statement: What He Said in Both Posts
First Post: Monday, 14 July 2025
Gregg Wallace had been sacked from MasterChef in early July 2025 after the Lewis Silkin report upheld 45 of 83 allegations against him. The same report had also examined 10 standalone allegations against other individuals connected to the show. Two were substantiated. One was for swearing. The other pointed at John Torode.
He came forward publicly that Monday evening.
“For the sake of transparency, I confirm that I am the individual who is alleged to have used racial language on one occasion.”
He stated he had absolutely no recollection of the incident and did not believe it had happened. He also described the allegation as it had been put to him: the person he had been speaking with “did not believe that it was intended in a malicious way” and he had apologised immediately afterwards.
“I want to be clear that I’ve always had the view that any racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment. I’m shocked and saddened by the allegation as I would never wish to cause anyone any offence.”
Second Post: Tuesday, 15 July 2025 (Later Deleted)
Banijay UK and the BBC confirmed his contract would not be renewed on Tuesday afternoon. That evening, Torode posted again. He disclosed that neither organisation had contacted him before the news broke in the press.
“Although I haven’t heard from anyone at the BBC or Banijay, I am seeing and reading that I’ve been ‘sacked’ from MasterChef and I repeat that I have no recollection of what I’m accused of. The enquiry could not even state the date or year of when I am meant to have said something wrong.”
He continued:
“I’d hoped that I’d have some say in my exit from a show I’ve worked on since its relaunch in 2005, but events in the last few days seem to have prevented that. Personally I have loved every minute working on MasterChef, but it’s time to pass the cutlery to someone else. Life is everchanging and ever moving and sometimes personal happiness and fulfilment lay elsewhere.”
This second post was later deleted from his Instagram account.
Why John Torode Was Sacked From MasterChef
Gregg Wallace had stepped back from the show in November 2024 following a BBC News investigation into his conduct. Banijay UK commissioned Lewis Silkin in December 2024 to run a formal independent inquiry. It ran for seven months, interviewed 78 witnesses, and examined 83 allegations against Wallace, upholding 45 of them.
Torode was not the subject of that investigation. His allegation surfaced from the 10 standalone findings the report examined alongside it. After-show drinks in 2018, according to Banijay’s statement. An incident Torode says the inquiry itself could not date.
Banijay UK said:
“The legal team at Lewis Silkin that investigated the allegations relating to Gregg Wallace also substantiated an accusation of highly offensive racist language against John Torode, which occurred in 2018. Lewis Silkin have upheld the very serious complaint. Banijay UK and the BBC are agreed that we will not renew his contract on MasterChef.”
The BBC said:
“John Torode has identified himself as having an upheld allegation of using racist language against him. This allegation involves an extremely offensive racist term being used in the workplace. It was investigated and substantiated by the independent investigation led by Lewis Silkin. The BBC takes this upheld finding extremely seriously. We will not tolerate racist language of any kind. John Torode’s contract on MasterChef will not be renewed.”
The BBC acknowledged that Torode denied the allegation but said the severity of the upheld finding left no room for a different outcome. Downing Street also addressed it. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said racist language “clearly has no place at the BBC or anywhere in society.”
John Torode: Twenty Years on MasterChef
John Douglas Torode was born on 23 July 1965 in Melbourne, Victoria. His mother died when he was four years old. He and his brother Andrew were raised by their grandmother in Maitland, New South Wales, and it was she who first taught him to cook.
He moved to the UK in the early 1990s, joined the Conran Group, worked from sous-chef at Quaglino’s to Head Chef at Mezzo in Soho by 1995, at the time one of Europe’s largest restaurants. He became resident chef on ITV’s This Morning in 1996. When the BBC revamped MasterChef in 2005, Torode was brought in as co-host, chosen over food critic A.A. Gill. The show was eventually sold to 25 countries.
He was appointed MBE in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to food and charity, receiving the award from Prince William at Buckingham Palace in 2023. He married actress Lisa Faulkner in October 2019.
He turned 60 on 23 July 2025. Eight days after losing the show.
Life After MasterChef: What Happened Next
His first public appearance after the sacking came at the Thoresby Park Food Festival in Nottinghamshire in September 2025. He gave two live cookery demonstrations with Faulkner by his side and told reporters during a walkabout: “Life goes on. I’ve had a lot of support and I’m very grateful.” He had pulled out of a separate event in Seaham, County Durham in August.
The 2025 MasterChef series, filmed before any allegations became public, aired from August 2025 with both Torode and Wallace still on screen. Broadcast figures showed the opening episode drew 1.96 million viewers, down from 2.73 million the previous year. The BBC described the decision to air it as “not easy” but said it was right by the contestants who had competed.
Grace Dent, who filmed a Celebrity MasterChef series alongside Torode before the controversy, told the Sunday Times: “I absolutely adore John Torode. He is one of the kindest, most concerned, clever, thoughtful men that I know.”
Sources told The Mirror in July 2025 that Torode was consulting an employment lawyer over a potential unfair dismissal claim, citing the absence of a confirmed date in the investigation’s findings and the way his exit was handled. As of April 2026, no legal proceedings have been filed.
John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen on ITV, which the couple co-hosted since 2019, reportedly faces an uncertain future. ITV’s director of media and entertainment, Kevin Lygo, had defended the show after the BBC sacking, saying the broadcaster “never had any complaints or concerns” about Torode’s conduct on its programmes. The show completed its 10th series in early January 2026. ITV has issued no formal statement since.
He has been working on a YouTube cooking channel, which sources say has been well received.
MasterChef 2026: The First Series Without John Torode
The 22nd series of MasterChef premieres on BBC One on 21 April 2026, with Grace Dent and chef Anna Haugh in the roles Torode and Wallace held for 20 years.
Speaking to the Radio Times ahead of the new series, Haugh said: “It’s bigger than any one person, and the contestants are brilliant.” Dent did not look back: “I don’t feel I am ‘picking up’ after anybody. I’ve been going to work every day at the helm of the most important food show, probably in British television history.”
Across both posts, John Torode said the same thing: he had no recollection of the incident and did not believe it had ever happened. The BBC and Banijay UK had heard the finding from Lewis Silkin and reached their decision. Since a food festival in Nottinghamshire in September 2025, he has made no public statement. MasterChef returns to BBC One on Tuesday. His two Instagram posts from July 2025 remain everything he has chosen to say.
