BBC bosses have lined up the presenter who will replace Gregg Wallace on MasterChef.
It’s being reported that the restaurant critic and I’m A Celebrity! Get Me Out of Here star, Grace Dent, will be joining John Torode when the show returns.
Grace, 51, appeared on the hit cooking show as a contestant in a 2023 Christmas special and has served as a temporary judge while the BBC investigated alleged claims of historical misconduct made against Wallace.
The Sun is now reporting, however, that Grace is set to become a permanent fixture on the show.
‘Grace is a natural fit for the show,’ a source told The Sun. ‘She is also hosting Celebrity MasterChef alongside John.’
‘Grace loves to support up-and-coming talent in the industry and loves the format of the show.’
According to the Sun’s source, the crew are hoping that when filming starts on the next season at the new studios in Birmingham that it will serve as a ‘fresh start’ for the series.
The decision comes after Wallace was fired from the beloved cooking show on July 8 following a nine-month sexual misconduct investigation.
Wallace initially stepped back from the show in November 2024 when 13 people accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments.
However, since then, 50 more people have come forward to complain about the presenter’s behaviour.
It’s been alleged that Wallace groped one colleague and, at one point, took his trousers down in front of another while not wearing any underwear.
Prior to the news of his firing breaking, Wallace took to Instagram, where he claimed the investigation cleared him of ‘the most serious and sensational accusations’ ahead of the report’s official release.
In the post, he wrote ‘I cannot sit in silence while my reputation is further damaged to protect others’ and went on to say he was being discriminated against due to his autism.
He accused the BBC of failing ‘to investigate my disability or protect me from what I now realise was a dangerous environment for over 20 years’.
Is this the right decision?
Metros’ MasterChef maestro Adam Miller shares their thoughts on the Grace Dent rumours…
After Gregg Wallace’s firing from MasterChef there was clearly only one person who could save one of the BBC’s longest-running series from going up in flames – Grace Dent.
Dent is refreshingly engaged with the future of culinary broadcasting, regularly popping up on various TikToks, helping to platform aspiring new foodies with a voice.
She rates Michelin star meals with the same esteem as a really bang-on fry-up at a local café, and she’s got razor-sharp wit, which would be the perfect antidote for Wallace’s wince-inducing jokes.
Wallace said he had decided to go public as the BBC News division was ‘intending to platform legally unsafe accusations, including claims which have already been investigated and not upheld by the BBC and found not credible.’
Since then, it’s been reported that the former greengrocer is preparing to take legal action against the BBC and Banijay UK – the production team behind MasterChef.
The inquiry into allegations against Wallace is being conducted by an independent law firm on Banijay, and its findings are expected this week.
Metro has reached out to the BBC and Grace Dent for comment.
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