Australian-British celebrity chef John Torode has been sacked from his role presenting MasterChef in the UK after allegations he used racist language were upheld.
A spokesperson for the show’s production company Banijay UK confirmed that his contract would not be renewed.
“This matter has been formally discussed with John Torode by Banijay UK, and whilst we note that John says he does not recall the incident, [the legal team at] Lewis Silkin have upheld the very serious complaint,” they said today.
READ MORE: Backpacker killer Bradley John Murdoch dies aged 67
“Banijay UK and the BBC are agreed that we will not renew his contract on MasterChef.”
BBC’s director general Tim Davie told BBC News that the BBC “are taking this seriously” and have “drawn a line in the sand”.
Torode claimed in a statement to Instagram that he learned about his sacking from news reports.
“Although I haven’t heard from anyone at the BBC or [production company] 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,” he wrote.
“I 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.”
He went on to say that he “loved every minute” working on the show and that it’s “time to pass the cutlery to someone else”.
Torode’s exit comes just days after his former co-presenter Gregg Wallace was sacked following an inquiry into his behaviour.
More than 40 of the 83 allegations against him were substantiated in a report commissioned by Banijay UK, including allegations of “unwelcome physical contact”.
Allegations that Torode had used “an extremely offensive racist term” were also investigated and upheld.
Torode addressed the inquiry in a statement posted to Instagram yesterday.
“The allegation is that I did so sometime in 2018 or 2019, in a social situation, and that the person I was speaking with did not believe that it was intended in a malicious way and that I apologised immediately after,” he wrote.
“I have absolutely no recollection of any of this, and I do not believe that it happened.
“However, I want to be clear that I’ve always had the view that any racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment.”
Torode concluded that he was “shocked and saddened” by the allegations, adding that he “would never wish to cause anyone any offence”.
DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
