Viewers of Monday night’s MasterChef: The Professionals noticed the show’s under fire judge Gregg Wallace barely featured in the episode.
Gregg along with Monica Galetti and Marcus Wareing has presided over the series but in the first episode of finals week he had minimal scenes.
The opening of the episode say Monica and Marcus both giving their assessments of the final four contestants, but Gregg’s judgements were missing.
The MasterChef judge and chef, 60, announced he was stepping back from presenting the show after nearly 20 years last week while an investigation into his alleged misconduct is carried out.
Gregg was then seen sitting in the resturant of The Goring, London where the first challenge, the Chef’s Table, took place but whilst other chefs and industry professionals were interviewed as they tasted each dish, Gregg was mostly left out of the footage.
‘Watching Masterchef The Professionals and Gregg Wallace has been edited out of the show so far,’ commented one fan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Viewers of Monday night’s MasterChef: The Professionals were left baffled after the show’s under fire judge Gregg Wallace barely featured
Gregg along with Monica Galetti and Marcus Wareing has presided over the series but in the first episode of finals week he had minimal scenes
‘They definitely reduced his presence last week but more time and plenty of extra footage they can use. Will he still appear at the end though for the firing?’
‘Gregg Wallace has been edited out of professional master chef’ agreed another.
Gregg was back on screens for the episode’s second challenge which saw the finalists return to the MasterChef kitchen.
One fan pointed out: ‘They seem to have done a reasonable job of airbrushing Gregg Wallace out of the Chef’s Table bit of Masterchef TP. Sadly, he’s back now but it is the correct decision not to cancel this show as it’s a showcase for the chefs.’
BBC executives held crisis meetings last week as the claims about Gregg threatened to undermine its Christmas schedule, which includes two MasterChef specials.
The BBC have decided to go ahead and broadcast the rest of Masterchef: The Professionals, which will conclude on December 12, and the two Christmas editions, while they await the conclusion of the investigation by production company Banijay.
It is understood that the BBC and Banijay have been scouring the forthcoming episodes of MasterChef that have yet to air for any sexually inappropriate comments by Wallace.
A BBC spokesman told the Mail: ‘MasterChef is life-changing for the chefs that take part and the show is about more than one individual.’
Gregg, 60, announced he was stepping back from MasterChef after nearly 20 years on Thursday while an investigation into his alleged misconduct is carried out.
The opening of the episode say Monica and Marcus both giving their assessments of the final four, but Gregg’s judgements were missing
‘Watching Masterchef The Professionals and Gregg Wallace has been edited out of the show so far,’ commented one fan on X, formerly known as Twitter
Gregg was seen in the Chef’s Table challenge but whilst other chefs and industry professionals were interviewed as they tasted each dish, Gregg was mostly left out of the footage
He last week faced accusations of inappropriate behaviour from 13 people, including Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark, over a 17-year period across five shows from 2005 to 2022.
Gregg faces accusations he told a junior female colleague he wasn’t wearing any boxer shorts under his jeans, wandered into the studio naked apart from a sock on his penis and mimicked a sex act on a producer when she knelt down to clean his trousers.
The latest allegations include one woman who said he groped her, another who claims he pressed his crotch against her while filming BBC show Eat Well For Less and a third who alleged he flashed her in his dressing room.
Despite this Gregg remains desperate to repair his reputation and the investigation’s findings are critical if he wants to continue appearing on screen.