MasterChef's John Torode faces racism allegation after Gregg Wallace report
MasterChef presenter John Torode has confirmed he is at the centre of an accusation involving racist language which was unveiled during a probe into former colleague Gregg Wallace's behaviour.
The investigation executed by Lewis Silkin for production firm Banijay substantiated 45 out of 83 charges against Wallace, which incorporated two different assertions implicating others, including one tied to racist commentary.
In a candid post on Instagram, Torode recognised himself as the implicated party, but declared he has "no recollection of the incident" and described feeling "shocked and saddened".
Torode penned on his Instagram: "Following publication of the Executive Summary of the investigation into Gregg Wallace while working on MasterChef, I am aware of speculation that I am one of the two other individuals against whom an allegation has been upheld.
"For the sake of transparency, I confirm that I am the individual who is alleged to have used racial language on one occasion.
"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 afterwards.
"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.
"I'm shocked and saddened by the allegation as I would never wish to cause anyone any offence," reports the Mirror.
The comments were disabled on the statement he posted on Instagram on Monday evening (July 14).
Meanwhile, former MasterChef host Wallace had previously vowed not to "wouldn't go quietly" after being sacked from the BBC show by its production company Banijay.
Wallace responded to the publication of the MasterChef review, stating that he had challenged the groping allegation against him that was upheld, but ultimately lost.
The presenter maintained that "none of the serious allegations against me were upheld," despite the review finding him guilty of "unwanted touching" and three counts of being in "a state of undress".
Accusing the BBC of not doing enough to support him in changing his behaviour, he warned that more issues would arise in the future.
"In the end, the BBC left me exposed to trial by media and the damage it leaves in its wake," he continued.
"To those who've shown kindness, thank you. It mattered."
The report, conducted by law firm Lewis Silkin, categorised the complaints into seven areas. Of the 45 upheld complaints, 12 were for inappropriate comments (jokes and innuendo), 16 were for sexually explicit comments, three were for being in a state of undress, two were for sexualised comments made to or about someone, four were for being culturally insensitive or racist, seven were for bullying, and one was for unwanted physical contact.
The BBC stated that it welcomed the findings from Lewis Silkin and confirmed that Gregg had been informed they "have no plans to work with him in future".
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