MasterChef and five other shows that survived a major controversy

Yahoo

4 days ago

As MasterChef returns with a pre-recorded series featuring axed John Torode and Gregg Wallace, these series also found the show must go on.
Beleaguered BBC show MasterChef is set to make a controversial return to TV on Wednesday, with the pre-recorded series airing despite hosts Gregg Wallace and John Torode having both been axed after an investigation.
Not everyone is in agreement that the series making it to air is the right one - some of the women who complained about Wallace's behaviour have claimed that it is disrespectful for BBC One to show the final series that the long-running hosting duo made before their exit. Meanwhile, others have argued that MasterChef has the potential to change the lives of the winners and finalists, who shouldn't suffer because of the production's issues.
A BBC statement explaining the decision said: "MasterChef is an amazing competition which is life-changing for the amateur chefs taking part. The focus of it has always been their skill and their journey. This has not been an easy decision in the circumstances and we appreciate not everyone will agree with it... we believe that broadcasting this series is the right thing to do for these cooks who have given so much to the process. We want them to be properly recognised and give the audience the choice to watch the series."
They added that "MasterChef is a brilliant, much-loved programme which is bigger than any one individual" - a sentiment that some other big-name shows have also had to battle through in recent years.
As MasterChef makes its tentative return to prime time TV, we look at the other shows that have weathered the storm of controversy.
This Morning
ITV's flagship daytime show has been through a rocky few years, but appears to have come out the other side stronger than ever.
Trouble began brewing in September 2022 when then-hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were accused of jumping the queue at Queen Elizabeth's lying in state, and were forced to defend themselves on air by explaining that they were simply joining an accredited media line separate to the main queue.
However, the incident left a sour taste for some, with the flames of controversy fanned by what some viewers deemed to be an ill-judged prize on the show's game Spin To Win, which included the chance to have household utility bills paid.
Then came rumours of a rift between Schofield and Willoughby, something that would have been unthinkable to many of their fans. They had co-hosted This Morning and Dancing On Ice for years and often spoken of their close friendship off air.
In May 2023, Schofield made the shock announcement that he was stepping down after 20 years as host, following revelations of an affair with a much younger male production staff member. Other former contributors and guest hosts came forward with stories of an apparent toxic atmosphere, while Willoughby claimed she had been completely unaware of the relationship and made an infamous on-air speech asking viewers: "Are you okay?"
A rotating cast of guest hosts took Schofield's place on the sofa, until in October 2023 Willoughby also left after discovering she had been the target of a sick kidnap and murder plot.
This Morning's viewers might have found it impossible to imagine the show hosted by anyone else, but after trying out various different duos, bosses eventually settled on Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard. The new presenters have proved a hit with fans and the show has hung onto its schedule slot despite big changes in the rest of the ITV daytime line-up that have recently been announced.
Strictly Come Dancing
MasterChef isn't the first BBC show to have been hit by controversy that would potentially threaten the programme's future.
Strictly Come Dancing is the jewel in BBC One's crown, but the popular contest was rocked by allegations of bullying and sexually inappropriate behaviour from some of the celebrities who took part.
Amanda Abbington had a promising start to the 2023 series, so viewers were surprised when she quit for personal reasons. She later alleged that dance partner Giovanni Pernice had been abusive and threatening towards her, claims that appeared to be backed by some of his other former partners.
With disagreements between Strictly stars and Pernice's former partners who backed him and those who came down on Abbington's side, the BBC conducted an investigation into what had been going on behind the scenes. The report said that it had "upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made" and put measures in place to protect future contestants, including chaperones in training rooms.
As well as Pernice being dropped from the cast, the investigation also uncovered some worrying incidents that Zara McDermott had experienced while training with Graziano Di Prima, who was axed from the cast, too. Pernice hit back at the allegations, insisting he is "not a bully", and Di Prima apologised, saying he "deeply regrets" the incidents that led to his exit.
Contestant Wynne Evans was accused of making sexually inappropriate comments on the show's tour and earlier this year he told This Morning that at his lowest point he had wanted to end his life over the backlash.
There have also been rumours and reports of affairs over the years – most notably, between dancer Katya Jones who was married to fellow pro Neil Jones at the time, and partner Seann Walsh on his then-girlfriend Rebecca Humphries' birthday.
Despite its many tricky moments, Strictly has survived every controversy so far and is about to enter its 23rd series with plenty of fans still eager for the show's return.
The One Show
BBC One's The One Show is generally considered one of the least offensive chat shows on TV, so when it found itself at the centre of a controversy, the news came as a shock.
The early evening programme has a rotating cast of hosts, but one of the key presenters was former footballer Jermaine Jenas. In August 2024 he was dropped from the line-up when claims emerged that he had been sending unsolicited texts to a female member of the production team – with the news breaking while he was on air for talkSPORT.
Jenas was also axed from his Match of the Day role and any other BBC work, although he has claimed that there are "two sides to every story".
Regular presenter Alex Jones, who often co-hosted with Jenas, recently spoke to The Big Issue about what went down, saying: "I very much take people on face value. But with JJ, I didn't know what was going on. I had no idea.
"I thought he was taking extended leave. The BBC didn't share with me what was going on until they actually dealt with it. And, you know, they did what they thought was right.
"If that was my daughter [Annie] and she felt uncomfortable with someone's behaviour, I hope that whatever company she was working for would deal with it swiftly as well."
The One Show still graces our screens on weekday evenings, with Jones joined by presenters including Roman Kemp and Lauren Laverne.
Good Morning Britain
This Morning's recent controversy managed to overshadow a tough moment in the broadcasting history of its channel mate, breakfast news show Good Morning Britain.
Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid were the ITV show's dual anchors for six years, and although viewers knew they would get plenty of strong opinions from Morgan each morning, an incident in 2021 went beyond what anyone had expected.
In a heated live discussion about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Oprah Winfrey interview, Morgan questioned claims from Markle about experiencing racism and being denied mental health support during her time living as part of the Royal Family.
Weatherman Alex Beresford took issue with Morgan's views and a row kicked off between the pair, which led to Morgan storming out of the studio during the live broadcast. He refused to extend an apology to Markle and ended up leaving the show altogether.
In 2023, Morgan told Amol Rajan he had been angered by a "personal attack" coming from a member of the GMB team: "I don't mind a guest doing that, but I do object to someone who had asked to come on the show, who is on the team, who then makes a very personal attack on me. And so in that moment I thought, there's two things that are going to happen here. Either I am going to completely lose my rag and do something I regret or I am going to go and walk off."
Good Morning Britain tried out a number of other presenters, but the question of who would replace Morgan seems to have finally died down as the show instead opted to regularly change up its stars. Reid is regularly joined by co-stars including Ed Balls, Richard Madeley, Adil Ray and Rob Rinder, while Kate Garraway, Charlotte Hawkins and Ranvir Singh have all stayed on.
The Great British Bake Off
TV's most genteel contest is very rarely under any sort of cloud, but when the show moved from the BBC to a new home at Channel 4 for the 2017 series, three quarters of its star team opted not to go with it.
Bake Off featured a familiar line-up of judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood with hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins for its first seven series, but could the format ever work without them?
Hollywood was the only one of the four who made the move to Channel 4, with Berry bowing out of the show and backing her replacement Prue Leith. Giedroyc and Perkins released a joint statement saying they were "shocked and saddened" by the move as they had wanted Bake Off to stay at the BBC, adding: "We're not going with the dough."
It seems things didn't end on entirely good terms for the whole team, as Hollywood has since said: "When Mel and Sue came out with: 'We're not going with the dough', that hurt me a little bit, because that felt like a direct dig at me."
Perkins said in 2020: "When we were there, Paul was really good fun – and stuff happened that made us incredibly sad and incredibly hurt. But he was always like family for years and years and years, and it's painful when those things end, especially in the way that they did end." She added: "I'm devastated about what happened, about lots of it."
Hollywood and Leith are still judging Bake Off (despite Leith accidentally leaking the winner of her first series), but the hosts have been through a number of changes - Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig launched the show at Channel 4, with Toksvig later replaced by Matt Lucas, and Lucas then leaving to be replaced by Alison Hammond.
MasterChef returns to BBC One at 8pm on Wednesday, 6 August.