MasterChef's all-female new line-up as John Torode and Gregg Wallace step down

MasterChef veterans Grace Dent and Anna Haugh have been confirmed as the new presenters of the amateur version of BBC show. Their appointments following the recent axing of Gregg Wallace and John Torode over complaints made against them for inappropriate behaviour.

The women, who each has a long history with the MasterChef franchise, will become the first all-female team to front any of the three versions; the regular version featuring amateur cooks, which has run for 21 series, Celebrity MasterChef, which has run for 19 years, and MasterChef: The Professionals, which has enjoyed 17 outings.

Viewers will get to see top Irish chef and restauranteur Anna in action alongside Torode later this month, when she co-hosts two episodes in the final week of the series currently airing on BBC1. She was drafted in after Wallace stepped down during the investigation into his behaviour last year.

And avid viewers of the franchise will know that Anna, 44, filled in for Monica Galetti alongside Marcus Wareing on MasterChef the Professionals in 2023, when she took a year off.

Grace - who has made regular appearances over the years in her role as a restaurant critic - has already filmed a full series of Celebrity MasterChef alongside John Torode, which has not yet aired.

While the BBC said that no decision had yet been taken about when it will hit the screen, with axed Torode as the co-host, it seems likely that it will need to air later this year, in the November slot which is normally home to MasterChef: The Professionals. Torode lost his job on the show just days after Wallace was axed, following an upheld complaint about his use of racist language.

Saturday Kitchen favourite Matt Tebbutt has already filmed a full series of the professional version alongside regulars Monica and Marcus, which is unlikely to hit the screen until next year. This means the first glimpse that viewers will get of Grace and Anna presenting together is unlikely to come until much later in 2026.

Anna, 44, trained on a professional cookery course at the TU Dublin School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, before she went on to work in Paris with Gualtiero Marchesi. Having moved to London, she worked with Shane Osborn at Pied a Terre, Philip Howard at The Square, and then was head chef during the opening of London House for Gordon Ramsay. Anna now runs Myrtle Restaurant and The Wee Sister wine bar in London.

When she stood in for Monica during 2023, Anna said she’d jumped at the chance to “keep her seat warm” because she had long paved the way for female chefs.

Restaurant critic Grace, 51, was a contestant herself competing on MasterChef: Battle of the Critics in 2023. She is also a journalist, author and podcaster. Last night she said: “I’m over the moon to be coming back to the MasterChef kitchen and unearthing what culinary skills people have been cooking up behind closed doors. It’s a joy to be working with Anna, who brings all her incredible experience to the table. I am in for such a treat with this series, I can’t wait to get started.”

Anna agreed: “I’m delighted to be back on MasterChef and judging alongside the wonderful Grace Dent, whose writing and wit I’ve admired for years. MasterChef has long inspired and resonated with cooks in home kitchens and of course in my industry. I can’t wait to get into the studio for what will be a great competition.”

Welcoming them to the show, MasterChef executive editor David Ambler said: “Both are enormously respected in the hospitality industry and we can’t wait for them to uncover some more great cooking talent - from home kitchens across the country.”

MasterChef is not only a hit in the UK, it is the most travelled food format in the world, with 71 local versions to date and which have led to 750 series worldwide, achieving No. 1 status in many territories.

Since its inception, over 1 billion viewers around the globe have tuned in to watch contestants transform their lives through a passion for cooking. Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .