Matt Tebbutt has responded to claims he has been 'axed' as the presenter from Masterchef: The Professionals, following reports he wasn't asked to stay on for the next season of the show after just one series of presenting.
Last night The Sun claimed Matt had been axed from the BBC cooking show, alleging "three is a crowd" when it came to Matt presenting alongside longtime professional chefs Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti, who have been on the series for many years.
A source told the publication: "There might be a few eyebrows raised that Matt isn’t staying on given he has just joined.
“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. Three was a bit of a crowd."
A spokesperson for Banijay, the production company behind the show, said of the claims to The Sun: "No decisions have been made yet about the presenting line up for the future series of MasterChef. We won’t comment on speculation."
And now Matt has responded to the claims himself, confirming he won't be returning as the full time of host of the show, as it was always intended for him to just do one season.
"A lot of lovely people have contacted me about not doing the next series of Masterchef: The Professionals," he shared in a post on his main Instagram grid this morning. "I was only ever doing one series, and I loved judging on it and will continue working on MasterChef."
Fans of the show were disappointed to hear of Matt's departure with many commenting on his post how he will be "missed" and was a "breath of fresh air" for the series.
Matt was brought into the series as host following Gregg Wallace's departure from the series.
Masterchef: The Professionals is currently on its 18th season and the 14th episode will air this evening (11 March) as knock-out week continues for the professionals chefs competing for the title.
