John Torode says MasterChef dismissal left him ‘devastated’

Former MasterChef host John Torode has said the BBC’s decision to sack him from the show left him “devastated”.

The 61-year-old Melbourne-born chef hosted the popular series for 20 years alongside Gregg Wallace.

Torode was sacked from the cooking competition show last year after an allegation that he used “highly offensive racist language” was upheld in a review looking into Wallace, who was also fired due to alleged misconduct.

Torode with wife Lisa Faulkner (Lucy North/PA)

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In an interview with The Telegraph, Torode said he received the news via a call from his agent while he was on holiday.

“It was a shock,” he said.

“The shutters closed around me and I was devastated, absolutely, completely devastated.

“I put my heart and soul into that thing. I really worked very, very hard.”

Torode described the BBC as “a machine [that] spat me out”, adding that in his entire time with the broadcaster “nobody ever knocked on my door and said, ‘You can’t do this,’ or ‘This is a problem.’ Never, ever, ever, ever, ever”.

He also ruled out taking any potential legal action over his dismissal.

“To get embroiled in further conflict would only do damage,” he said.

“It was a situation that was so shocking, so out of the blue, that there was nothing to be done to make a change in any way and to heal was going to take time.”

Following his exit from the series, Torode established a YouTube channel – John and Lisa’s Kitchen and Home – which he runs with his wife, EastEnders and Holby City actress Lisa Faulkner.

In July, Faulkner revealed she had to have surgery because she was diagnosed with the early stages of breast cancer.