Saturday Kitchen presenter Matt Tebbutt has reportedly been ‘axed’ as a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals after just one series.
The chef joined MasterChef alongside Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti to help judge series 18 of the longtime cooking show. Tebbutt was brought in as the highly anticipated replacement for Gregg Wallace, who was fired from the show following allegations of misconduct.
However, his time on the programme has been brief. It was announced on Tuesday that producers of the BBC series have chosen to continue the series without him, after deciding the show works better with two judges rather than three.
Despite rumours that the chef-turned-presenter has been ‘axed’ from the show, he announced the real reason for his departure after just one series on Instagram, explaining: ‘A lot of lovely people have contacted me about not doing the next series of MasterChef: The Professionals.
I was only ever doing one series and I loved judging on it and will continue working with MasterChef.’
A source told The Sun that his departure has nothing to do with his performance on the programme, stating: ‘He didn't do anything wrong and will definitely come back to the series as a guest in the future.
‘But bosses simply realised that they could get away with just having Marcus and Monica at the helm, especially as their chemistry is great and they have a tight relationship.’
Commenting on the future series of MasterChef: The Professionals, a spokesperon at the BBC said: ‘No decisions have been made yet about the presenting line up for the future series of MasterChef. We won't comment on speculation.’
A fond farewell
Matt has only ever had positive words to say about his time on the cooking show, describing it as ‘a joy.’
‘I've loved every minute and these two next to me have been so supportive,' he said about his co-stars, Wareing and Galetti.
‘I've become so invested in the chefs and their progress and how they've changed throughout the series.’ He went on to praise the commitment of the chefs on the show.
‘The thing that stood out for me was just how invested these chefs are and how much work goes into it for them outside of filming. Their commitment was clear and it was also clear to see how much they changed from week one to week seven - the progression was enormous.’