Axed MasterChef The Professionals host Matt Tebbutt recalls the 'brutal' moment he was sacked by the BBC just hours before appearing on The One Show as he says he was 'livid'

Matt Tebbutt has recalled the 'brutal' moment he was sacked from MasterChef The Professionals. 

Earlier this year, it revealed the judge, 52, was axed from the show after just one series, despite being well received by viewers. 

Matt said he felt 'f*****g livid' by the news as he was told just the day before he was scheduled to go on The One Show to talk about the MasterChef spin-off.

Reflecting months on Matt said on the Go To Food podcast: 'They went in a different direction. Now I get it TV changes, ideas change. 

'New people come in, totally understand that. But don't tell me the day before I was due to go on The One Show. I was told at 5pm and I was going the next day to go and do The One Show and all the press around it.

'Don't tell me that. That's badly handled.' 

Matt said he told bosses to 'f**k off' with the idea he would still make a guest appearance on The One Show the following day. 

He said: 'I'm not doing that f**k off. Because when lovely Alex Jones sits there and goes: "oh you know, what's going on? Tell me about the series, what's happening next year?

'I don't have a poker face. You will know I'm going to be cross so I said no I'm not doing that. I was annoyed and when I said annoyed, I was f**king livid'.

Saturday Kitchen chef Matt replaced Gregg Wallace as host of the 18th edition of the professional series, alongside Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti, but despite fans raving over his inclusion on the show he has confirmed he won't be returning.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme, Matt previously told presenter Jaega Wise that the attention surrounding his exit was hard to deal with.

'It was, yes, of course it is [difficult]. I mean, I'm not going to say I wasn't upset. I was really upset. And it could have been handled a lot better. But it is what it is.'

'You know, there's worse things going on. You've got to be pretty resilient. It's part of the game, really,' he added. 

'I guess it's like if you're a politician, you're going to get knocks. So it's just par for the course, I think.'

Matt said that he 'really enjoyed' his stint on the show, but went into it knowing it was 'a tough gig', especially in light of Wallace's departure. 

Greg, 61, was dismissed by the BBC last July after an investigation into 83 historical allegations of workplace misconduct, with 45 accusations against him subsequently upheld. 

'Walking into such an established show, whatever had happened before, you don't want to be that guy that turns up and steamrollers everything,' Matt explained.

'To then go in and get to know the personalities of Monica and Marcus, and get to know the crew and still do your job and deliver, it was a lot.'

He said the highlight of the experience was forming bonds with the contestants. 'I got really invested in the chefs,' he admitted. 

'You see how hard these chefs work and then they have families, and then they go home and have these proper jobs and they still have to practice. They've got a lot resting on this.' 

The BBC has been contacted by the Daily Mail for comment.