\u201cWe are back. It\u2019s the start of something truly fantastic,\u201d beams John Torode as he launches the new series of Celebrity MasterChef. Oh, the pathos. Little did Torode know that this would be his last MasterChef show, because a few months after filming ended he was sacked over a complaint that he used a racist term in the workplace<\/a>. But here he is on screen, oblivious. It\u2019s like seeing a pig contentedly wallowing in the mud, unaware that tomorrow he\u2019s heading for the bacon slicer.<\/p>\n Torode is paired with Grace Dent, hired as a stand-in for Gregg Wallace when he was suspended for misconduct at the end of last year. And since then, she\u2019s been installed as the full-time presenter of MasterChef, because Wallace has been sacked too<\/a>. Dent remains a fan of Torode, saying in an interview over the weekend: \u201cI absolutely adore John Torode. He is one of the kindest, most concerned, clever, thoughtful men that I know.\u201d Perhaps she thinks his sacking is unfair, and that he was collateral damage in the BBC\u2019s desire to cleanse the brand.<\/p>\n Whatever, they do work well together as a presenting duo. That\u2019s because Torode clearly likes her, whereas one suspects he was only tolerating Wallace while cringing inside. But with yet another change coming up \u2013 Dent will host MasterChef proper next year, with the Irish chef Anna Haugh<\/a>, which she has hailed as a welcome departure from the show\u2019s \u201cutter male energy\u201d \u2013 you can\u2019t help thinking: should they just scrap the whole thing and consign the show to history?<\/p>\n