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Iain Stirling was crowned the winner of Celebrity MasterChef’s Christmas Special on Monday, in what was John Torode’s final appearance on the show after being axed.
Earlier this year, John, 60, was sacked from his long-standing role on the cooking show for the alleged use of a racist term, months after Gregg Wallace was also dropped from the show following allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Iain was joined by podcast presenter GK Barry, Ted Lasso star Kola Bakkini and disability campaigner and presenter Nikki Fox in a star-studded festive special, where John judged alongside Grace Dent.
After being tasked with completing a variety of dishes from the Secret Santa Mystery Box, all four stars were asked to make their idea of an ‘ultimate Christmas dinner.’
For Iain, this meant looking back to his own childhood Christmas, which he confessed for many years saw his family shun the traditional turkey in favour of a Chinese takeaway.
He whipped up cheesy cauliflower with crispy chicken thighs in Chinese seasoning, alongside a dessert of peach and banana crumble with rum and raisin ice cream.
Kola opted for a Nigerian red stew and ‘pounded’ yam, followed by a puff puff dessert, in honour of his late father.
Nikki cooked chicken, Yorkshire puddings, caramelised Brussels sprouts and carrots, along with a sprinkling of crisps, her grandfather’s tradition, and a classic trifle from her mum Steph’s recipe.
GK made a giant Yorkshire pudding with mash potatoes and vegetables to create a reindeer’s face, followed by caramelised biscuit muffins.
John said he ‘loved’ Iain’s cauliflower cheese and said the chicken thighs were ‘delicious’, Grace said she thoroughly enjoyed his crumble and ice cream.
As Iain was announced as the winner, John: ‘He is definitely a person who understands how to please a crowd. Not just on the stage, but in the MasterChef kitchen.’
Grace added she would be ‘happy’ to visit Iain’s house for dinner.
As he was handed the coveted Golden Whisk, a thrilled Iain said: ‘Wow! I’m made up!’ before joking he was going to quit comedy to pursue a career in cooking.
The episode was the last John filmed before he was pulled from the BBC show in July after an allegation emerged he had used ‘extremely offensive racist language in 2018’, which he claims to have ‘no recollection of’.
The racism complaint against John was revealed in a report into co-presenter Gregg Wallace’s inappropriate behaviour.
Gregg, 60, was sacked after dozens of complaints against him were upheld, with Grace joining the lineup towards the end of last year.
John identified himself as an unnamed person in the report who was accused of using ‘racist language.’
However, the presenter said ‘he had absolutely no recollection’ of the incident and did ‘not believe that it happened’.
But in a statement in July, the BBC said: ‘This allegation – which involves an extremely offensive racist term being used in the workplace – was investigated and substantiated by the independent investigation led by the law firm Lewis Silkin.
‘The BBC takes this upheld finding extremely seriously.
‘We will not tolerate racist language of any kind and we told Banijay UK, the makers of MasterChef, that action must be taken. John Torode’s contract on MasterChef will not be renewed.’
Following John’s departure, it was announced in September that Anna Haugh would join Grace as the new permanent judges on the show.
