A New Chapter for MasterChef: The Professionals
Matt Tebbutt has recently shared his thoughts on his brief stint as a presenter on MasterChef: The Professionals, expressing that his exit from the show could have been managed more effectively. The 52-year-old TV chef was announced as the new presenter for the 18th edition of the series in September 2025, alongside long-standing judges Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti. He took over from Gregg Wallace, who had faced significant controversy following an independent review that upheld 45 out of 83 misconduct allegations against him.
The announcement of Matt’s involvement was seen as a fresh start for the spin-off show, with production moving to a new studio in Birmingham. However, last month it was revealed that Matt would not return for the next series of the format, which features professional cooks competing against each other.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme, Matt spoke about the difficulty of leaving the show. “It was, yes, of course it is,” he said. “I mean, I’m not going to say I wasn’t upset. I was really upset. And it could have been handled a lot better. But it is what it is.”
He added, “You know, there’s worse things going on. You’ve got to be pretty resilient. It’s part of the game, really. I guess it’s like if you’re a politician, you’re going to get knocks. So it’s just par for the course, I think.”
Despite his disappointment, Matt admitted that he enjoyed his time on the show. He acknowledged that joining MasterChef was a challenging task, especially after the departure of Gregg Wallace. The review that led to Wallace’s dismissal highlighted serious issues, and he issued an apology, stating that he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate” anyone.
When asked about the challenges of stepping into such an established show, Matt explained, “Walking into such an established show, whatever had happened before, you don’t want to be that guy that turns up and steamrollers everything. To then go in and get to know the personalities of Monica and Marcus, and get to know the crew and still do your job and deliver, it was a lot.”
This comes after Matt addressed reports that he had been axed from the programme in March. On Instagram, he clarified that he had only ever intended to do one series of the cooking programme. In a statement, he wrote, “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 BBC spokesperson at the time said, “No decisions have been made yet about the presenting line up for the future series of MasterChef. We won’t comment on speculation.”
The latest series also featured a rotation of guest judges, adding variety to the competition. As of now, the BBC has not provided further details regarding the future of the show.
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