MasterChef presenter John Torode has said he has found the recent reports about co-host Gregg Wallace “truly upsetting”.

The pair have presented the BBC One cooking show together for almost 20 years, since 2005.

In his first comments since the allegations surfaced, Torode said he would continue to be part of the programme, adding: “The thought of anyone who has appeared on our show not having a brilliant experience is awful to hear, and I have found the recent press reports truly upsetting.”

Wallace is facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour from more than a dozen people across a range of shows over a 17-year period. His lawyers have previously strongly denied “he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”, according to BBC News.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Torode said he had been away filming MasterChef overseas since last Friday.

“I love my job, and I love MasterChef,” he said. “I love being part of it and will continue to be part of it.

“During the last few days, I’ve been trying to make the best cookery programme, so being busy making the show and caring for our contestants has allowed me little time to think about anything else, but that has been hard.”

Torode said he “fully” supports the current investigation into Wallace’s alleged behaviour, but could not comment further while it is ongoing.

“I hope that you all understand and respect my silence on the matter moving forward,” he added.

Torode rose to TV fame in the mid-1990s as the resident chef on ITV’s This Morning and joined the revamped version of MasterChef when it launched in 2005. The show, initially called MasterChef Goes Large, followed the original series, which was hosted by Lloyd Grossman from 1990 to 2001.

On Tuesday, the BBC confirmed it was removing two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials from the schedule following the allegations about Wallace. However, the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals is airing as planned.

A spokesperson for the broadcaster said it took the decision as the series can be “life-changing” for the chefs taking part, but the “Christmas specials are obviously a different type of show”.

Read more:
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Wallace has temporarily stepped down from the cooking show while historical misconduct complaints are externally reviewed by producers Banijay UK.

The BBC has also pulled three repeat episodes of Inside The Factory from the Christmas schedule.

Torode response polar opposite of Wallace ramblings

Katie Spencer

Arts and entertainment correspondent

For two decades he’s stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Gregg Wallace but now, with one Instagram post, John Torode is attempting to massively distance himself from the man he’s stood so closely beside.

Literal distance, he says, is the reason he didn’t comment sooner. Keen to stress he’s been away filming overseas. At the same time acknowledging he’s struggled to think of little else.

In comparison to Wallace’s Sunday morning wildly misogynistic ramblings (for which he’s since apologised) it is the polar opposite of responses.

Theirs was always an unusual bond. Torode had, in interviews, often been keen to stress that the pair didn’t associate socially. Published quotes which Torode can, in the future, now helpfully point to when it comes to keeping the public on side.

Wallace has – via his lawyers – denied any behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. And he won’t have read his former co-presenter’s post on Instagram itself having reportedly already unfollowed him over the weekend.

With lawyers hired by Masterchef’s makers, Banijay, carrying out their independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by Wallace, it’s correct that he can’t say much more.

But it is a post that will please the BBC – with Torode respectfully expressing his upset at the claims whilst defending the beloved primetime show, suggesting he isn’t going anywhere and indicating his hopes that the show will go on with or without Wallace beside him.

Sky News can confirm the broadcaster was alerted to Wallace’s “unacceptable” behaviour while filming the series more than a year and a half ago, with a memo shared with staff at the Nestle factory in York showing concerns were raised after his final visit in February 2023.

More allegations have surfaced against the presenter this week – with two women claiming he had inappropriately touched them.

One told the BBC he “groped” her bottom, while another alleged he laughed after touching her bottom “with his waist and penis” when brushing past her. A third claimed Wallace’s penis was partially exposed in his dressing room in what she felt was a “power play”.

The Guardian also reported a complaint that he once asked a sign language interpreter to translate “big boobs” and “sexy bum” in front of the audience at the BBC Good Food Show.

Earlier, one former contestant told Sky News that a remark Wallace made when she returned as a guest judge left her crying in the toilets.

Another described the allegations as the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to the show – claiming he witnessed a “toxic environment” on set and the problem was “larger” than just the presenter.

Sky News has contacted representatives for Wallace for comment on the allegations against him.

At the weekend, he shared a video dismissing the initial claims, putting them down to “middle-class women of a certain age”.

He later posted another clip apologising for the remarks.

What have the BBC and producers said?

A spokesperson for Banijay UK, which has appointed a law firm to lead its investigation, has said the company takes complaints “incredibly seriously” but will not comment on individual allegations while the external investigation is ongoing.

“It is important to note that MasterChef welfare processes are regularly adapted and strengthened and there are clear protocols to support both crew and contributors,” the spokesperson said.

“These include multiple ways of reporting issues, including anonymously.”

In response to reports multiple complaints had been raised with the BBC, a source for the corporation said it would not comment on individuals or any internal HR processes, but that it would be “wrong to report the BBC has done nothing if or when matters have been raised with us – not least because it is already being widely reported there were interventions in both 2017 and 2018 where action was taken”.

Last week, a BBC spokesperson said any issues raised are taken seriously and there are “robust processes in place” to deal with them.

“We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated,” they said.

Ghetts, Jorja Smith and Central Cee are among the artists leading the nominations for this year’s MOBO Awards.

They all have three nods, alongside Sampha, Bashy, Cleo Sol and Odeal, while Brit record-breaker Raye is up for two awards and Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj and Tyla are among the stars in the running for best international act.

As previously announced, the 2025 ceremony will take place in Newcastle in February. The MOBOs, which have been running since 1996, celebrate black music and culture, from established names to up-and-coming talent.

For Bashy, who is also a successful actor – known for his role as Jermaine Newton in Top Boy – the nominations come following his return to music with his first album in 15 years.

The record, Being Poor Is Expensive, looks back at his childhood and has earned him a place in the shortlists for best male act, best hip-hop act, and album of the year.

He has competition from Cleo Sol’s Gold, Ghetts’s On Purpose, With Purpose, Jorja Smith’s Falling Or Flying, Sampha’s Lahai and Skrapz’s Reflection in the album category.

Both Smith and Sol are up for best female, alongside Darkoo, Little Simz, Nia Archives and Raye, while Central Cee, D-Block Europe, Ghetts, Nemzz and Sampha are in the running against Bashy for best male.

Central Cee will be hoping to take the best male gong for the third year in a row – and is also shortlisted for best drill act and song of the year, for Band4Band, featuring Lil Baby.

Other tracks in the running for song of the year are Backbone, by Chase & Status and Stormzy; Favourite Girl, by Darkoo featuring Dess Dior; Kehlani, by Jordan Adetunji; Pink Lemonade, by LeoStayTrill; and Soh-Soh, by Odeal.

Stars including Headie One, Nines, PinkPantheress, Bob Vylan and Shygirl are also in the mix, nominated in genre categories including best hip-hop, best electronic and dance, and best alternative act.

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Film and TV contributions are also recognised – with Netflix series Supacell garnering nods for Ghetts for his role as Krazy, as well as for Josh Tedeku, who plays Tazer, and Tosin Cole as Michael.

EastEnders also picks up nominations in the same category for Angela Wynter as Yolande Trueman and Diane Parish as Denise Fox, while Jasmine Jobson is shortlisted for her performance in Top Boy.

The MOBO Awards take place at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena on 18 February.

Debbie Nelson, the mother of rapper Eminem, has died at the age of 69.

Her death was confirmed by Eminem’s representative Dennis Dennehy on Tuesday.

The cause of death is yet to be confirmed, although Ms Nelson had battled lung cancer.

Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, often highlighted the strained relationship he had with his mother in his music.

In two of his most popular songs, My Name Is and Cleanin’ Out My Closet, he accuses Ms Nelson of drug abuse and neglect.

In the 2002 hit Cleanin’ Out My Closet he says: “Witnessin’ your mama poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen”. He later claims she was “trying to take what you didn’t help me get”.

Later the same year, a fictionalised version of his mother who is an alcoholic, was played by Kim Basinger in the semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile which the rapper also stars in.

Ms Nelson brought and settled a pair of defamation lawsuits over Eminem’s statements about her in magazines and on radio talk shows.

But in her 2008 book My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, she attempted to set the record straight.

The book’s blurb claims that she was a “single mother who wanted the world for her son, only to see herself defamed and shut out when he got it”, Sky News’ US partner network NBC said.

She also shared details about the rapper’s early life, writing that Eminem had forgotten the good times they had.

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Over the years, the tensions between the two seemed to simmer, with the rapper apologising to Ms Nelson in his 2013 song Headlights.

“Cause to this day we remain estranged, and I hate it though,” he raps, adding: “Cause you ain’t even get to witness your grandbabies grow. But I’m sorry, momma, for Cleanin’ Out My Closet. At the time I was angry, rightfully? Maybe so. Never meant that far to take it, though.”

Ms Nelson also publicly congratulated her son in 2022 after he was indicted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, Billboard reported, saying in a video shared at the time: “I love you very much. I knew you’d get there. It’s been a long ride. I’m very, very proud of you.”