Despite the recent show scandal, ABC bosses continue to support MasterChef for the upcoming years.
MasterChef is safe on the BBC until at least 2028, TV experts have insisted, despite it currently having a recipe for disaster.
The hit cooking show has had several weeks of controversy with first Gregg Wallace and then co-host John Torode both being axed from the series following an independent report into their behaviour.
Production company Banijay and the BBC have two series of the show completed and there have been many questions about if they will air.
Industry website Deadline says the current contract with Banijay until 2028 will continue and bosses are keen to keep the show as it has a young audience they would struggle to capture with a newly launch show. A second source told the Mirror they are confident the MasterChef brand is here to stay “for the long term” on the BBC.
Insiders also insist they will do everything they can to screen the competitions which have already taken place, one series with both Wallace and Torode and a celeb version with Torode and Grace Dent.
A senior producer who previously worked on the show told Deadline, “Having a civilian MasterChef in the can is the absolute worst position for them to be in.”
The BBC is said to be balancing a number of factors, including the welfare of those who made the allegations, the expectations of the chefs who won Season 21 and the interest of the audience for the cooking contest.
If the show doesn’t air, they might also face legal challenges from competitors. As a result of discussions allegedly going on for weeks, the report also refuted claims that Torode was “blindsided” about his dismissal.
Torode was fired after using the “N word,” according to the Times and other reports on Thursday night. The firm Lewis Silkin’s investigation into Gregg Wallace’s behavior “substantiated an accusation of highly offensive racist language against” John, 59, according to Banijay, the producer. However, John asserted in a statement that “I have no memory of what I’m accused of.”
It’s now suggested that John, who has hosted the cooking show since 2005, has once used the N-word. John is said to vehemently deny ever using the racial slur. Following the upholding of the claim in a report into John’s colleague Gregg Wallace’s behavior, John came forward earlier this week as the person alleged to have used racist language.
Deadline also discussed the possibility of new hosts for the show, with stand-in Grace Dent obviously in pole position for one slot. The show is filmed in Birmingham which would make drummer Alison Hammond a good fit. Food podcaster and comedian Ed Gamble has been a guest on the show or Matt Tebbutt from Saturday Kitchen were also described as the type of people who could star alongside Grace in possible new line ups.
Source: Mirror
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