If the MasterChef judge John Torode used highly offensive racist language, march him off the set and toss his apron and a couple of frying pans after him, I say. Nevertheless, the news that the programme’s makers, Banijay, will not be renewing the 59-year-old celebrity chef’s contract due to an upheld allegation over a remark he made at work in 2018 has left me shocked, not least because I’ve interviewed the Australian twice, and both times came away thinking, “Why am I not as nice as John Torode?”
Of course, it’s quite possible that Torode is a lovely geezer in front of journalists but as soon as my back was turned, he threw a white tablecloth with eyeholes cut in it over his head. But I didn’t get that feeling. Which makes me keenly interested to know what exactly it was that he said seven years ago and the context in which he said it. (Torode himself has claimed via Instagram to have “no recollection” of the incident and was “shocked and saddened” by the allegation.)
The first time I met Torode was in 2022 and he described dealing with his erstwhile MasterChef presenting partner Gregg Wallace and his early morning phone calls. It was obvious being woken up at 6am by Wallace in Duracell Bunny “let’s get to work!” mode was not easy.
But Torode seemed big-hearted about it. He said that he found it challenging and funny, and treated Wallace with tolerance and kindness. He also described romancing his wife, Lisa Faulkner, by writing her love letters. I left thinking, “I must be more tolerant, like John,” and also, “I’m going to buy a fountain pen.”
The second time was last summer, when I met Torode and Faulkner to discuss their ITV show John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen (according to one report, ITV is still planning to broadcast this Saturday’s episode). Sitting in their north London back garden, I scoffed cake that Faulkner had baked for me. Meanwhile, Torode was full of Aussie bonhomie and quite emotional about his blended family (he has four children from previous relationships; Faulkner has an adopted daughter).
Now, I consider myself to be quite woke. It’s been almost 25 years since Greg Dyke, then the BBC director-general, described the BBC as “hideously white”. I thought that was brave and I admire any organisation trying to be progressive. Without a bit of “wokery”, one of my first bosses might still be in business. He was a racist pig. Once, after I interviewed an internationally renowned soul singer, he told me he didn’t like seeing “c**ns” on the cover of his magazine. Yes, really. That was in the Eighties and without people in power making a stand, things do not change.
• Gregg Wallace banned from working at BBC
So I reiterate. If Torode is a racist, don’t bother bringing me the bill. I throw down my napkin. I’m outta here. But unless the details of the allegations are made clear I find myself feeling differently about Torode than I do my former boss. The accusation is historic and vague, which makes getting rid of him seem a tad opportunistic. You may be forgiven for thinking that having sacked one of the big beasts on the show, it was decided that MasterChef’s future would be better served by a clean sweep of the broom. As the director-general of the BBC, Tim Davie, observed after the news broke, “I think a great programme that’s loved by audiences is much bigger than individuals.”
Hmm. Two words sprang to mind when I read that: Top Gear. What a mess they made of that. If that show really is bigger than the presenters, why does it now resemble a hedgehog that Jeremy Clarkson has reversed over several times in his ten-tonne Lamborghini tractor?
Also, I thought Davie’s attempt at distancing the Beeb from Wallace and Torode, the men on the scaffold, sounded a bit weaselly. “These aren’t BBC employees but we absolutely expect action to be taken,” he said. A report in The Sun even claimed that Torode was encouraged to resign on mental health grounds following the allegation.
Seen through the prism of the scandal involving the BBC newsreader Huw Edwards — in which Edwards remained on full pay for five months despite being arrested for making indecent images of children — this feels like an attempt at “Quick! Look decisive!” But it means we’re being served a pretty thin soup and, for me, it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.
Who wins from all this? I may be oversaucing here but when the three finalists line up at the next general election, I think it may be Nigel Farage who steps forward. Not over the Torode sacking per se but because of the drip-drip effect of unexplained cancellations. Every time a big institution like the BBC or the police or the judiciary drops a cast-iron Le Creuset pan on its foot, showing it is unable to run its affairs with fairness and common sense, I think he wins. Because if people can’t see the calculus by which their careers are ended, Farage starts to look like the reasonable guy.
As for MasterChef, its mandarins may be scouring Instagram right now for a new presenter. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be someone young and good-looking who has never grafted in a restaurant. Someone who will grin too much and be terribly supportive when Darren from Blackpool serves up a Spam fritter with a swirl of salad cream like a Seventies dog turd on top. This would be a pity. I really liked Torode’s jowly, hardcore approach to things.
Gregg Wallace’s employment of inappropriate sexual language meant he had to go. But Torode? Don’t we deserve to see more details of the evidence against him?
