John's bitter banana split is 'off'

HMMM. I'm certainly not alone in feeling there's something distinctly “off” about the peremptory sacking of John Torode from the BBC’s MasterChef.

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On the face of it, it looks like pretty rough justice. An undated allegation from an unnamed source making the accusation that Torode told a racist joke during an off-air work party, and immediately apologised, on the spot. Reportedly no complaint was made by anyone at the time.

Torode says he has zero memory of any such incident, and doesn’t believe it happened.

Yet he has been very publicly dismissed and his career at the BBC is over. His reputation has been seriously damaged. But we have only the briefest of details regarding his alleged transgression.