I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star Grace Dent will reportedly be announced as Gregg Wallace's replacement on MasterChef in a matter of days. The former presenter and judge stepped away from the BBC cookery show after a string of women came forward to make claims about him.
As a result of the claims, Banijay UK, the show's production company, revealed it would be launching an external review looking at historical allegations of misconduct. Gregg has continued to deny any wrongdoing, with his lawyers insisting "it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature."
Despite this, he's reportedly set to be replaced on the show by food critic Grace Dent. The 51 year old has a plethora of experience under her belt, having written about food for years - she's also appeared on MasterChef regularly as a critic, with stints on mainstream TV on Strictly Come Dancing and I'm A Celeb, reports the Mirror.
The BBC is expected to announce Grace as Gregg's replacement by the end of the week, The Sun reports. Grace would join forces with his former co-host, John Torode, for a new era of MasterChef.
A source told the publication: "Grace is the perfect choice to replace Gregg on Masterchef." They continued: "She's knowledgeable about food and opinionated, plus it's great to have a woman as a judge on the show. It will shake things up and give the series the boost it needs after such an upsetting and uncertain time."
The insider revealed that Grace is a "fan favourite", with her "sense of humour" and "no-nonsense" approach, earning her major kudos in the culinary circle. They also shared that MasterChef chiefs see her as a "safe pair of hands" who, alongside John, can guide the show back to "steadier waters". OK! has contacted Gregg and Grace's representatives for a comment. The BBC has declined to comment.
Meanwhile, on Thursday night (12 December), Gregg made an appearance on screen for the pre-recorded final of MasterChef: The Professionals. The nail-biting final saw Dan Merriman, 29, take the crown as he overcame competition from 31 other chefs to become the 18th winner of the BBC cooking show.
Despite the final being aired, after the allegations against Gregg surfaced, the BBC made the decision to pull two MasterChef Christmas specials from their scheduling. A BBC spokesperson shared: "As we have said, MasterChef is an amazing competition which is life-changing for the chefs taking part and the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals is continuing as planned. The celebrity Christmas specials are obviously a different type of show and in the current circumstances we have decided not to broadcast them."
