Only the finest cuts Same hosts, invisible edits - is MasterChef a little too much like business as usual?

To say the latest series of MasterChef has been an unmitigated calamity feels like an understatement.

- Hannah J Davies

In early July, Gregg Wallace was fired from the already recorded show after allegations of inappropriate conduct, including one claim of unwanted touching. Of the 83 complaints against Wallace, 45 were upheld in an official report, leaving the BBC with a headache over whether or not to broadcast the latest series.

It then emerged that the report also covered an accusation of racist language against Wallace's fellow judge, John Torode, and the BBC swiftly dispensed with him, too. Nevertheless, the corporation confirmed in late July it would air the series anyway. One contestant, Sarah Shafi, was so appalled by this that she agreed to be edited out. The broadcasting union Bectu said: "If [the BBC] are serious about addressing this industry-wide problem, broadcasters should not reward bad behaviour with primetime coverage."

The first three episodes landed unannounced on BBC iPlayer yesterday morning, ahead of their broadcast on BBC One. Would they be full of jarring jump-cuts to minimise the presence of Torode and Wallace? Would it seem as if the pair just happened to wander on to the set now and again?

It began like any other series of MasterChef, with the narrator, India Fisher, introducing the "battle for the ultimate culinary prize" between 60 new contestants, over characteristically tense music. As in previous series, Wallace and Torode featured prominently in the opening montage, alongside nervous contestants and lingering shots of plates buckling under the weight of jus and garnishes, with Torode saying: "This is the sort of stuff that dreams are made of," and Wallace describing one dish as "a cracker of a job".