THEY were the larger than life characters who ruled the MasterChef kitchen for 20 years.
But as Gregg Wallace and John Torode’s reign as judges ended under a murky cloud of accusations of sexist and racist language, the relationship between the two men publicly soured quicker than warm milk.
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They may have known each other for more than 30 years, but their relationship has always been complicated.
When accusations of misconduct first surfaced against Wallace, Torode’s silence was deafening.
Instead of coming out to support his colleague, Torode and his wife Lisa Faulkner stayed quiet, causing furious Wallace to unfollow them both on social media.
But those who know Wallace, 60, and Torode, 59, best are unlikely to be surprised that battle lines were drawn.
Despite their on-screen chemistry winning them an army of fans, their relationship behind the scenes seems unconventional to say the least.
As Torode once said bluntly: “It’s funny, we’ve never been friends.”
After moving to the UK in the 1990s, Australian Torode was working at a London restaurant when he first encountered Wallace, who was the owner of George Allan’s Greengrocers.
And despite their good working relationship as chef and supplier, in 2013 Torode spoke about his doubts about Wallace for MasterChef.
“In 2005 I was asked to go to an interview about some cooking show and Karen Ross, the boss at Shine, the production company involved, said, ‘I’d love you to do it, but I need to audition people to partner you with.’ I had everyone from AA Gill to Oliver Peyton,” he told The Independent.
“One day she asked, ‘Do you know a guy called Gregg Wallace?’ I had misgivings, as Gregg was big, brash and loud.
The Gregg Wallace Interview Part Two
“Actually, nothing has changed, except no one expected the success the show has had.”
And Wallace had a similar view of Torode from their old days, recalling their first meeting: “It was a hot day and the kitchen door was open into the alleyway and I saw this young brash Aussie chef with his trousers rolled up around his knees, a tartan baseball cap, and a voice that was as loud as his attire.”
But working together so closely filming MasterChef – which returned today – was always going to take its toll on two big characters.
Torode told The Independent: “Spending 200 days a year filming together, we got a lot closer, but any relationship where you spend that much time together inevitably gets strained.
“We used to fight about stuff, as we’re both so opinionated. In the first series it was over [eventual winner] Thomasina Miers, as Gregg had said, ‘There’s no way I want her.’
“Then in the second round he said, ‘I want her.’ And I said, ‘You git, how can you hate someone vehemently one day then like them?’”
6am phone calls
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Wallace has said there is no-one he is closer to, other than his mum, than Torode and has praised his former co-star for supporting him with his mental health struggles.
But it has seemed that it is Torode who has wanted to keep their relationship purely professional, complaining about everything from Wallace’s 6am phone calls to his OCD tendencies.
Speaking to The Times in 2022, Torode said: “We know each other so well. But that’s not to say we don’t have our moments.
“With Gregg my issue is the 6am phone calls. Last time it happened I wasn’t very happy and I said, ‘Gregg, mate, it’s 6am.’ And he said, ‘But you’re on my list!’
“That’s the thing with Gregg, he gets up very early and his whole life is diarised and run on lists. Anyway, the next time I saw him face to face I sensed that disturbance in the force — I knew there was something wrong. I said, ‘Mate, come on, what’s up?’
“He said, ‘You weren’t very nice to me on the phone the other morning.’ I said, ‘It was 6am!’ and he said, ‘But I get up at 5am and you were on my list!’
Best man… but ‘not friends’
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But in 2013 Torode was the one who said he would be open to expanding their friendship, but Wallace’s OCD made it complicated.
He claimed: “Gregg has rules in the dressing-room that are pretty easy to understand as they are vocalised quite often.
“Things like, ‘Don’t put anything on my table, don’t touch my stuff and stay on the left-hand side of the room until lunch.’
“I know that, with his OCD, if I went to his house, say, I’d have to sit in a certain place. It’s frustrating, as I’m open [to expanding the friendship], but I don’t feel Gregg is.
“But he’s also given me so much: he’s taught me the importance of being self-deprecating and he’s made me laugh at myself. He’s fun and very funny.”
In 2016 Wallace asked Torode to be his best man at his fourth wedding to Anne-Marie Sterpini.
But it was just a year later that Torode said they weren’t even friends.
“It’s funny, we’ve never been friends,” he told The Mirror.
“We’ve not been to each other’s houses… He’s so OCD, he wouldn’t know what to do. He’d build it up in his mind for three days, and probably make himself quite sick, then he’d have an argument with his wife and not turn up.
“If I went to his house, he would feel like he wasn’t in control.”
Fractured
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Whatever their relationship was before the MasterChef scandal saw them both out of a job, it seems that it is now fractured beyond repair.
The pair were both fired by the BBC last month after a report into the cooking show upheld allegations against them.
The report revealed that more than 40 complaints against Wallace had been upheld, including one of unwelcome physical contact and another three of being in a state of undress.
He has insisted he was cleared of “the most serious and sensational allegations”.
The upheld complaint against Torode related to a severely offensive racist term allegedly used on the set of MasterChef in 2018.
The presenter said he had “no recollection” of it and that any racist language is “wholly unacceptable”.
Despite unfollowing Torode and his wife Lisa on social media, Wallace defended Torode in an interview with The Sun, saying: “I’ve known John for 30 years and he is not a racist.”
But he added: “We never really did get on that well. We’re two very, very different characters.
“But we made bloody good telly together for 20 years.”
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