Matt Tebbutt has been the presenter of Saturday Kitchen since 2017 (Image: BBC)
explained why viewers are greeted with the same chefs each week. The 51-year-old has been the main face of the cooking programme since 2017 and has worked with countless chefs over the years.
The presenter recently joined fellow chef Anna Haugh on her podcast and revealed bosses at the are the ones who choose which culinary masterminds are allowed to join him in the studio.
Reading out questions from members of the public, Anna asked Matt: “Why is it always the same chefs on Saturday Kitchen?”
The TV host responded: “It’s not a bad question, actually. There’s a revolving pool of chefs that the show uses. They are introducing new people all the time. There are people who come on and I personally think they are great.
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Matt revealed he has no power over which chefs join him in the kitchen each week (Image: BBC)
“There are people who come on and perhaps the powers at the top at the might go, ‘I’m not so sure about that’. Then we have to look at the spread of chefs across the board. There’s all sorts of parameters that we have to bring in.”
Matt continued: “There’s always room for new people, it’s the fact that there are only so many slots a year and if you’re getting three slots a year then you’re doing really well. It’s brought down to that. And those three slots will be reserved for people like Theo [Randall], and Marcus Wareing, Jason Atherton.
Anna began coughing to grab her co-star’s attention, prompting him to add: “And Anna Haugh. But you’re on a lot more than that to be fair.”
The MasterChef star, 44, responded: “Well you know Matt, sometimes I am. They ask me to go on and I just go on.”
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Matt has been tipped as the person replacing Gregg Wallace on MasterChef (Image: BBC)
Matt then took the opportunity to clarify that he has no power when it comes to choosing which chefs appear in the studio each week.
He added: “Can I just point out that it’s not up to me. I meet so many great chefs and I’ve got chefs that I’d love to have on, but I just can’t get them on. So yes, there appears to be the same people but it is actually quite a big pool of people.”
It comes after sources claim on MasterChef after he was forced to step down following allegations of misconduct.
The source said: “Matt rose to the challenge of coming into Saturday Kitchen after it was previously hosted by another big name in the world of food, James Martin. He managed the feat of making it his own and almost making viewers forget who his predecessor was – now Beeb bosses, and the show producers Banijay, will be hoping he can work the same magic on MasterChef.”