'The BBC spat me out': John Torode says he never speaks to Gregg Wallace and reveals why he agreed to be his best man

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026 · last updated 20 September 2026.

John Torode has described the BBC as a machine that "spat him out" when it sacked him over a 2019 alleged racist language incident — a firing he says still doesn't make sense to him. The 61-year-old Australian chef, who co-hosted MasterChef for 20 years, was dismissed by phone while on holiday shortly after Gregg Wallace was dropped following 45 upheld allegations of sexual misconduct. Torode says he had "no recollection" of singing a racial slur at a wrap party, and has speculated that forces beyond the incident itself drove his sacking. He has since launched a YouTube channel with his wife, actress Lisa Faulkner, who is recovering from cancer.

Torode and Wallace kept their relationship strictly professional — they never visited each other's homes, even though Torode stood as Wallace's best man.

'When we filmed, we filmed, and when we didn't, we weren't in touch. Why would it change now?' Torode said of his silence with Wallace.

Torode hinted that then-BBC Director General Tim Davie may have played a role in his dismissal amid wider corporate scandals engulfing the corporation.