Masterchef Monica Galetti

The Mere chef-owner Monica Galetti is stepping down from her Masterchef role alongside Marcus Wareing.

But it may well only be temporary: both Galetti’s post and Masterchef’s confirmation suggest that this may be just one season of the silver-haired wizard and his bald assistant. What happens when a crisp with “a hint of lime” contains no lime at all? Her partnership with Marcus Wareing — particularly when experiencing the exquisite pain of watching trained chefs fumble basic skills tests — has long been a highlight of the show, which will lose something significant in her absence.

The chef said she will be focusing on her loved ones and rebuilding her kitchen team, but hopes to return to the TV cookery challenge.

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The judge, who makes up the panel with chef Marcus Wareing and host Greg Wallace, joined the BBC show 14 years ago when Michel Roux Jr. was the primary judge.

Historically, the professional series is released in November. MasterChef’s executive editor, David Ambler, said: “Monica is one of the most talented chefs of her generation, we have worked together closely for the past 14 years and regard her as an integral member of the MasterChef family. Galetti had been working with Roux since joining his restaurant Le Gavroche in 2003 as a commis chef.

She has been part of the judging trio for the last 14 years on the popular BBC show, joining first with Michel Roux Jr and Gregg Wallace and then with ...

She added: “Thank you to both BBC and Shine TV for being so understanding of my decision but for this year I’ll be your number one supporter from the side lines. To my fellow judges and friends Marcus and Gregg – I’ll be watching – you’ve got this! I’ve kept pushing and thankfully have manged to do well since leaving the show.”