Matt Tebbutt reflects on sacking from top London restaurant

Matt Tebbutt has recalled being fired by his chef mentor Marco Pierre White from his first job out of culinary school.

The Saturday Kitchen presenter - who recently left MasterChef - revisited the time during an appearance on BBC ’s The One Show with Angellica Bell, 50, and JB Gill, 39.

Bell wanted to know about his cooking background, asking: "Marco Pierre White, he gave you your big break when you started out.

What was that like?"
Tebbutt, 52, explained: "It was a lot, let's be honest.

He was a bit of a legend or he still is a legend in the whole food industry.

“I think these kinds of mentors you need when you're starting out, you need those people to look up to and aspire to and Marco was certainly one of those."
He trained under White, 64, at the three Michelin-starred restaurant The Oak Room after finishing culinary school.

He continued: "So I went to work for him and learnt a lot.

It was a fun time and it was full on time.

Shall we say..."
Bell interjected: "You worked for him twice, was it twice?"
Tebbutt confessed: “Well I worked for him twice because I got sacked."
Bell gave a sheepish smile and replied: "That's right.

I'm like, 'I'm letting you gloss over that.

I'll let you gloss over that.’”
Tebbutt laughed and said: "Thank you, that is very sweet of you.

I thought it was just bad intel."
Describing his firing, he went on: "I started in this three star, which is the pinnacle of Michelin cooking.

"Then I went back and I worked at one of his other restaurants, The Criterion, which was really busy.

But it was fun.

It was busy.

It was often tough."
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Tebbutt had appeared on the show to discuss his new podcast exploring the stories behind celebrities’ supermarket favourites.

It comes after he addressed his recent departure as a host of MasterChef: The Professionals following just one series.

He joined the BBC cooking competition for its 18th series , stepping in after Gregg Wallace’s departure and presenting alongside judges Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti.

However, it was reported that Tebbutt will not return for the next instalment after producers decided the programme worked better with two hosts rather than three.

An insider told The Sun his exit was not linked to any issues with his performance and that he could still appear on the show in the future.

“He didn't do anything wrong and will definitely come back to the series as a guest in the future,” the source said.

“But bosses simply realised that they could get away with just having Marcus and Monica at the helm, especially as their chemistry is great and they have a tight relationship.”
Tebbutt later took to his Instagram to clarify that he was only signed up to present one series of the professional installment.

“A lot of lovely people have contacted me about not doing the next series of MasterChef: The Professionals,” he penned.

“I was only ever doing one series and I loved judging on it and will continue working with MasterChef.”