"I object to it strongly. This is the principle I’m standing by."
A MasterChef contestant has been edited out of the latest series after asking producers not to broadcast it following serious allegations against its presenters.
Sarah Shafi, from Leeds, said airing the programme would send the wrong message about “powerful men behaving inappropriately” and the treatment of women.
She said: “I didn’t say edit me out.
“I said, ‘Axe the show, don’t air the show. I’m asking you not to air the show’. Prominent figures have been abusing their power. What message does that send out to women?”
The series, filmed at the end of 2024, features Gregg Wallace and John Torode almost throughout. Both presenters have since been dropped from the BBC programme.
Gregg was removed after an independent report upheld 45 allegations, including claims of inappropriate sexual language and one incident of unwelcome physical contact.
He apologised “for any distress caused” but said the report cleared him of “the most serious and sensational accusations”.
John said he was dropped following a substantiated complaint over the use of racist language, which he insisted never happened.
Sarah works as a leadership and management development partner for St John Ambulance.
She joined the show to honour her late mother, a pioneering Indian cookery teacher, but withdrew support once the allegations surfaced.
Sarah explained: “For me, it’s about the enabling environment. It’s that complicity.
“Those individual powerful men do not [act] in isolation. There is an enabling environment, turning a blind eye … It’s about years of these institutions not being accountable.”
Sarah said she initially refused Banijay’s offer to remove her from the episode. She only agreed once the BBC confirmed the series would air from August 6.
She said: “I was flabbergasted, because in what way was that a solution, and a solution for whom?
“My point was not about me not being associated with it. My point was about the institutional enabling environment.
“I said I am completely against this airing of the show. I object to it strongly. This is the principle I’m standing by. I’m objecting to the show being aired, not about me being in it.”
The BBC acknowledged that “not everyone will agree” with its decision to broadcast the series and said it “in no way diminishes our view of the seriousness of the upheld findings against both presenters”.
Questioning the BBC’s priorities, Sarah asked:
“While the BBC are signalling how life-changing, for the better, this could be for some contestants, I’d say top 10 at most, where is the respect for how life-changing, for the worse, it has been for the victims?”
She suggested a special edition focusing solely on contestants’ talent without the two presenters:
“What I suggested to them was, ‘Why don’t you do a special show dedicated to these people that excludes those prominent figures, but it focuses on the talent?’”
The BBC’s decision to air the upcoming series of MasterChef caused controversy and the broadcaster said the decision was a difficult one:
“Banijay consulted with all the contestants before that decision was made and there was widespread support for it going ahead.
“We are sorry that this contestant does not support the decision and we are grateful she raised this with both the BBC and Banijay.”
Banijay UK also defended the decision:
“We are sorry that Sarah does not support the decision to air this series of MasterChef.
“We carefully considered her concerns about broadcasting the series and discussed them with the BBC.
“However, having consulted with all contributors in the series ahead of the decision being made, the resounding feeling from those taking part was support for airing the series.”
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