Gregg Wallace and John Torode “were never friends” despite being co-hosts for 20 years, a former MasterChef employee has claimed. Wallace and Torode were sacked as presenters of the cookery show this week after a seven-month investigation upheld allegations made against the pair.

Two new presenters have reportedly been ‘confirmed’ for MasterChef following the axing of Gregg Wallace and John Torode. Earlier this week an independent review commissioned by production company Banijay into misconduct accusations against Wallace, 60, upheld 45 of the 83 allegations, leading to his official removal from the cooking reality series.