BBC director-general Tim Davie has said MasterChef can survive its current scandal as it is “much bigger than individuals” – but the corporation must “make sure we’re in the right place in terms of the culture of the show”.
On Monday, an independent review into “inappropriate behaviour” by MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace announced it had upheld more than half of the allegations against him.
A few hours later, Wallace’s former MasterChef co-presenter, John Torode, revealed that an allegation that he used “racial language” was upheld in the report as part of a review.
Mr Davie said the BBC’s leadership team would not “tolerate behaviour that is not in line with our values”.
In his introduction to the report, BBC chair Samir Shah noted there were still pockets within the broadcaster where “powerful individuals” can still “make life for their colleagues unbearable”.
News of the findings in the Gregg Wallace report came just hours before the BBC was deemed to have breached its editorial guidelines by failing to disclose that the child narrator of a Gaza documentary was the son of a Hamas official.
Media watchdog Ofcom subsequently launched its own investigation into the programme.
Speaking about Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, Mr Davie admitted, “Gaza has been the most challenging editorial issue I’ve had to deal with”.
He went on: “The importance of fair balance reporting, the need for high-quality homegrown programming in the face of massive pressure, I think has never, ever been greater. And I believe my leadership and the team I’ve assembled can really help the BBC thrive in that environment and very competitive environment.”
Meanwhile, the broadcaster announced “several people have been dismissed” in the last three months, following an independent review into workplace culture, and the introduction of measures to call out inappropriate behaviour.
While the 2024-25 annual report showed a small rise in trust overall for the corporation, BBC director-general Tim Davie acknowledged it had been a year “which saw the reputation of the BBC damaged by serious failings in the making of the programme: Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone”.
Mr Davie said: “It was important that the BBC took full responsibility for those failings and apologised for them.”
Recent annual reviews have been overshadowed by the Huw Edwards scandal and allegations of a toxic environment around flagship show Strictly Come Dancing.
The report also revealed its top earners, which saw former Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker top the chart once again.
Meanwhile, Australian children’s cartoon Bluey proved a boon for the broadcaster, and was the most watched show in the US across all genres – with 55 billion minutes viewed.
The top 10 shows watched over Christmas 2024 were also all from the BBC.
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