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Andi Oliver, tipped to replace Gregg Wallace on MasterChef, believes the controversy surrounding his behavior has been blown out of proportion. “The thing to do is not to be too melodramatic,” he tells me.
‘Gregg Wallace is not the only person who has been given license to behave inappropriately.
“And for everyone to pretend that he’s some kind of lone wolf is disingenuous and a little ridiculous, actually.”
Oliver, 61, adds: “Instead of talking about it, we should make sure environments are good, productive and safe spaces for people to work.”
They begin filming the new series of MasterChef next year, and show sources are already ruling out the possibility of Gregg returning, no matter what the investigation into his behavior finds.
The question is: who will take his place? At this early stage, show bosses would like chef Oliver or food critic Grace Dent to take Wallace’s place.
Andi Oliver, tipped to replace Gregg Wallace on MasterChef, believes the controversy surrounding his behavior has been blown out of proportion. “The thing to do is not to be too melodramatic,” he tells me.
‘Gregg Wallace is not the only person who has been given license to behave inappropriately’
Oliver worked on Great British Menu and presented her own show, Andi’s Fabulous Feasts. Dent has appeared many times on MasterChef as a judge.
The Daily Mail’s Alison Boshoff was told the “dream” would be to pair one of them with renowned chef Angela Hartnett, a previous guest judge.
He has a hugely successful podcast, Dish, with Nick Grimshaw, and plenty of experience in broadcasting. But they fear they won’t be able to convince her to come on board.
Wallace’s co-host John Torode is described by someone on the show as “the legacy host,” and it seems the idea that he was present (and therefore possibly witnessed Wallace’s behavior) may work against him. , at least for some. .
He has hosted the cooking show alongside Wallace since 2005. Torode himself is willing to stick it out, as he made clear in a statement on Wednesday of this week.
Alison was told: “The idea of a complete reboot is appealing.” Another source objects: “It’s too early to say anything definitive yet, except that Gregg won’t be back.”
They continued: ‘Angela Hartnett is the ideal person they would love to put on the show, but it’s unclear if she would agree and would like to dedicate time to her.
‘They want to have a presenter who is a real professional chef. The other person, the ‘Gregg’ if you will, could be Andi Oliver or Grace Dent. They really like Grace Dent.
They begin filming the new series of MasterChef next year, and show sources are already ruling out the possibility of Gregg returning, no matter what the investigation finds into his behavior (John Torode and Gregg Wallace pictured).
‘I think some people also like Tom Allen and (chef) Matt Tebbutt. It won’t be Jay Rayner. It is “too strong meat” for the people.
The source added that Wallace believes Torode would be happy for his wife, actress Lisa Faulkner and previous Celebrity MasterChef winner, to present the show with him.
It is believed that this is what prompted him to stop following them on social media. However, I have been told that a “nepotistic” hiring of Torode’s wife does not seem to the bosses to be the best solution to the current crisis.
Wallace announced this week that he will be “stepping away” from the show amid numerous allegations of inappropriate behavior.