![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/john-torode.jpg\")
<\/p>\nJohn Torode has expressed his admiration for Grace Dent, who is taking over as presenter of MasterChef following his departure from the BBC programme.<\/p>\n
In a post on Substack, the 60-year-old chef described Ms Dent as “a strong extraordinary woman” who “stands up for all that she believes in and supports.”<\/p>\n
Mr Torode, who was removed from the cooking competition after racism allegations were upheld against him, also took aim at those who criticised him, referring to them as “the cult.”<\/p>\n
He wrote that Ms Dent was “graceful and never scared of doing the right thing or worried that the cult might too ostracise her.”<\/p>\n
John Torode expressed his admiration for Grace Dent, who is taking over as presenter <\/p>\n
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The former presenter added: “It was a privilege to stand by her side. Her support unfailing.”<\/p>\n
Mr Torode’s exit from MasterChef came after the BBC confirmed that an independent investigation by law firm Lewis Silkin had substantiated a complaint against him.<\/p>\n
The corporation stated that the allegation involved “an extremely offensive racist term being used in the workplace” during production in 2018.<\/p>\n
The BBC said it “takes this upheld finding extremely seriously” and would “not tolerate racist language of any kind.”<\/p>\n
![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/grace-dent.jpg\")
Grace Dent has officially transitioned from guest critic to a primary judge and host of the MasterChef franchise<\/p>\n
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Mr Torode has denied the allegation, stating he has no recollection of the incident.<\/p>\n
His departure followed 21 years on the programme and came shortly after co-presenter Gregg Wallace, 61, was also dismissed.<\/p>\n
Mr Wallace’s sacking followed a separate report that upheld more than 40 allegations regarding his conduct, including claims of unwelcome physical contact and being in a state of undress.<\/p>\n
Mr Torode also paid tribute to his wife Lisa Faulkner in the same Substack post, describing the 53-year-old actress as “my rock, my best friend, my love, my wife, a Wonder Woman.”<\/p>\n
![\"Greg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/greg-wallace.jpg\")
Greg Wallace was dismissed from the show just before Mr Torode<\/p>\n
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He added: “Nothing else needs to be said.”<\/p>\n
The couple first met in 2010 when Ms Faulkner appeared as a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef, and they married in 2019.<\/p>\n
Ms Faulkner has spoken equally warmly about her husband, telling Hello! magazine: “He’s my husband and my best mate. We really do support each other and hold each other’s hands through everything.”<\/p>\n
The Holby City star praised Mr Torode’s character, saying: “He’s such a gentleman and so kind.”<\/p>\n
She revealed that the chef has been helping her prepare for her upcoming theatre role by running through her lines with her.<\/p>\n
Ms Faulkner is preparing to return to the stage in Single White Female, a psychological thriller based on the 1990s film and John Lutz’s bestselling novel.<\/p>\n
The actress will portray Allie, a recently divorced single mother who takes in a lodger, only for the arrangement to take a dark turn.<\/p>\n
Coronation Street star Kym Marsh, 49, will appear opposite her as Hedy, the roommate who develops a disturbing obsession.<\/p>\n
![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/john-torode-and-lisa-faulkner.jpg\")
John Torode and Lisa Faulkner first met in 2010 when Ms Faulkner appeared as a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef<\/p>\n
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Ms Faulkner told Hello! magazine that Mr Torode has been enthusiastic about her career move: “He’s so happy for me.”<\/p>\n
Her close friends Angela Griffin and Amanda Holden are also backing her theatrical return, though Ms Faulkner has asked them to keep their attendance dates secret.<\/p>\n
She explained that spotting familiar faces in the audience would distract her during performances.<\/p>\n
Ms Dent has previously spoken highly of Mr Torode, describing him as “one of the kindest, most concerned, clever, thoughtful men that I know.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Torode has expressed his admiration for Grace Dent, who is taking over as presenter of MasterChef following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[243,6491,830,96,50,2331,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-356461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-bbc","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity","tag-entertainment","tag-news","tag-sgg","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}