When Will MasterChef Return?
By
2 days ago
Here's what we know so far
New episodes of MasterChef last aired in spring 2024, a bumper edition celebrating 20 years of the British cooking competition as we know it. Here’s what we know about its return in 2025, including who might take up Gregg Wallace’s empty seat on the judging panel.
When Will MasterChef Return?
Amid investigations into the conduct of co-presenter Gregg Wallace, the 2025 edition of MasterChef has been delayed, bucking a 20-year trend of the competition kicking off in spring.
The BBC is still yet to confirm when the series will return, though we know it is definitely happening: filming wrapped up at the end of 2024, and regardless the BBC is reluctant to take a ‘life-changing’ opportunity away from the chefs selected for the series.
When headlines about Wallace’s alleged sexual misconduct emerged, series 21 was in the middle of filming – hence the phrasing he would be ‘stepping aside’ for the time being. While there hasn’t been clarity from the BBC or the production company behind MasterChef, Banijay UK, on how far they got through filming with Wallace, it now seems MasterChef series 21 will air with the disgraced judge erased from the first few episodes. Luckily for the producers behind the series, Wallace and his co-presenter John Torode always fed their feedback for contestants to different cameras – so Wallace’s shots may simply be cut.
All of this has created a series of delays, with MasterChef series 21 still yet to air, and a start date still to be confirmed.
Jimi Famurewa, Grace Dent & Tom Parker-Bowles guest judging MasterChef. (© BBC/Shine TV)
Who Will Replace Gregg Wallace?
In the upcoming series of MasterChef, Irish chef Anna Haugh stepped into Greg Wallace’s shoes at the last minute. Haugh has previously appeared on MasterChef as a guest judge, so she was well-placed to offer the contestants feedback.
As for a permanent replacement, Grace Dent is a rumoured option after stepping in for Celebrity MasterChef . BBC bosses are also reportedly eyeing up British actress and John Torode’s wife Lisa Faulkner. Faulkner competed on Celebrity MasterChef in 2015, where she met Torode; the couple married in 2019 and have presented John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen together since 2019 and an Aussie travelogue, John & Lisa’s Food Trip Down Under, which aired earlier this year on ITV.
WATCH
MasterChef is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Find out more about how MasterChef works in our full guide to the series.
