The BBC’s hit culinary contest, MasterChef, is coming back on August 6th. Wallace and Torode, both veteran presenters, will continue to host the show in the wake of tremendous scandals. An independent report upheld 45 allegations against Wallace. These ranged from allegations of unprofessional sexualized verbal communication to one case of unwanted physical touching. At the same time, Torode was hit with a complaint about use of racist language, a charge of which he adamantly denies.
Though released by the BBC due to these allegations, Wallace will still feature heavily in the new series. The move to retain both Wallace and Torode is a surprise based on episodes shot in late 2022. This has produced a difficult situation for the producers and participants of the show.
Sarah Shafi, a contestant on the show’s inaugural season, raised her fierce opposition to its broadcast. As well as her consultancy work she is a leadership and management development partner for St John Ambulance. Shafi came into the competition as an homage to her mother, a path-breaking Indian cookery teacher who inspired generations. At first Shafi refused an offer from MasterChef’s producers, Banijay, to have her edited out of the episode. She had initially resisted being cut, but eventually conceded after the show was officially set to broadcast.
Shafi spoke to us about her fears about the meaning of airing the series at this particularly charged moment. She stated, “My point was not about me not being associated with it. My point was about the institutional enabling environment.” She said that to broadcast the show would be to provide a harmful example of how women have to be treated in these types of places.
“Additionally, Shafi lambasted the BBC productions for failing to consider the harm this show may do to victims of harassment. ‘While the BBC are signalling how life changing, for the better, this could be for some contestants – I’d say top 10 at most – where is the respect for how life changing, for the worse, it has been for the victims?’ she questioned.”
The move to go ahead with airing MasterChef was made after a discussion with the entire cast, resulting in unanimous support from contestants. Yet, Shafi’s points remind us that accountability vs accountability debate continues when discussing faith inside institutions like the BBC. She proposed an alternative: “What I suggested to them was: ‘Why don’t you do a special show dedicated to these people that excludes those prominent figures – but it focuses on the talent?’”
The controversies allegedly have put both Wallace and Torode on military scrutiny. Wallace, 57, has been a legend on MasterChef for over a decade. On the other hand, Torode himself is hitting snags with his BBC contract amid the recent claims made against him. Since this all started, Torode has consistently insisted that he is right to believe that the complaint about his purported use of a racist epithet never happened.
As the air date approaches, Shafi is undeterred and continues to push for the airing of the series to be suspended. “Axe the show, don’t air the show. I’m asking you not to air the show,” she implored.