John Torode in therapy as he opens up about life since ‘brutal’ MasterChef racism sacking
Former MasterChef presenter John Torode revealed he was in therapy after his sacking from the BBC cooking show.
It had only been a few days since his former co-presenter Gregg Wallace had been sacked from the show that it was confirmed Torode would be following him out of the door.
The Australian chef was sacked after an allegation of racist language was upheld against him, though Torode said he had 'no recollection' of it and stated: "I do not believe that it happened."
Nevertheless, an independent investigation by law firm Lewis Silkin upheld an allegation that the presenter had used 'an extremely offensive racist term' at work.
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At the time, Torode said that after the investigation into Wallace there had been other individuals on MasterChef with allegations upheld against them and he confirmed he was one of them 'for the sake of transparency'.
"The allegation is that I did so sometime in 2018 or 2019, in a social situation, and that the person I was speaking with did not believe that it was intended in a malicious way and that I apologised immediately afterwards," the chef said at the time, and now he has explained that he's been in therapy since his sacking.
According to The Sun, Torode wrote in a newsletter that going to therapy was helping him cope with the 'unexpected and brutal life change' of being fired from MasterChef.
He said: "Therapy over the past few months has entitled me to no longer ‘be brave’ but instead be real.
"Fear is the instinct that keeps us alive, but should grief and fear meet each other I wonder how much damage it can do when we decide to shut it away, shut it down and not let it flow as it should."
Torode wrote that he had been in a 'tumultuous physical, illogical and physiological state of mind' but he was finding it easier to talk about how he was feeling over the past few months.
He said he was not doing this for 'sympathy searching' but in the interest of 'honesty'.
The chef is still working on TV, as the ITV show he presents with his wife Lisa Faulkner remains on the air, and a new series of John and Lisa's Christmas Kitchen started at the end of November.
Following the sacking of both Wallace and Torode, the BBC decided to go ahead and broadcast the series of MasterChef which had already been filmed with the presenters.
They reported that this had been done 'for the sake of the chefs who had taken part in it'.
The BBC also aired Celebrity MasterChef after consulting the contestants who were all happy for their episodes to be shown. That series is presented by Torode and Grace Dent, with chef Anna Haugh taking over from Torode in future seasons.
Topics: Celebrity, BBC, TV, Mental Health
Joe Harker