Morning Live: Jacqui Joseph addresses MasterChef news
The BBC has officially named Gregg Wallace’s replacement on MasterChef as restaurant critic, Grace Dent.
This comes after Wallace was forced to step down from his presenting roles while the broadcaster investigates allegations of misconduct from 13 people.
The 60-year-old has denied the claims and MasterChef production company, Banijay UK, has said he is “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process”.
After much speculation, it was confirmed today (Decemeber 18) that Dent, who has previously appeared on the cooking show, will take on a permanent role alongside John Torode.
Following the announcement, thousands of fans took to social media to mock Wallace about his replacement, which came after his defiant response to the allegations.
Taking to X, one fan posted: “They’ve replaced Gregg Wallace with a middle aged woman of a certain age. Well played. Chefs kiss.”
As another remarked: “Gregg Wallace, looks like middle class women of a certain age are having the last laugh. Will be tuning in to watch Grace Dent.”
A third viewer added: “Gregg Wallace is going to be raging at being replaced by a Middle Class woman of a certain age. It's rare to say it, but good choice BBC.”
While a thrilled fan exclaimed: “Not the Beeb replacing Gregg Wallace with a middle class woman of a certain age. I am SCREAMING.”
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Earlier this month, Wallace added fuel to the fire by making a scathing statement about the accusers and dismissing them as “middle-class women of a certain age”.
In a series of Instagram videos, Wallace said he has worked with more than 4,000 contestants “of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life”.
“Apparently now, I'm reading in the paper, there's been 13 complaints in that time, I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn't right.”
His comments sparked fury among viewers and even sparked Countryfile’s Anita Rani to attend the glitzy Women In Film and Television Awards, proudly wearing a T-shirt with the phrase “middle-class woman of a certain age,” in bright pink.
