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The new judge of MasterChef: The Professionals, Matt Tebbutt, has been cut from the show after just one series, according to reports. The 52-year-old Saturday Kitchen star joined fellow judges Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti at the helm of the BBC show last year. According to reports, show bosses decided the show could continue with culinary experts Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti at the helm.

It is understood that producers at Banijay, who make the cooking show, plan to bring the Saturday Kitchen host back as a guest judge in the future. It comes after the TV star replaced Gregg Wallace, 61, on the MasterChef spin-off show last year after a six-month investigation into alleged misconduct on set.

A source told The Sun: "There might be a few eyebrows raised that Matt isn't staying on, given he has just joined. He didn't do anything wrong and will definitely come back to the series as a guest in the future.

"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. Three was a bit of a crowd."

They concluded: "Matt has taken it all in his stride and has plenty of other work to keep him busy. The whole experience was brilliant exposure for him." Express.co.uk has reached out to a representative of BBC and a spokesperson for Matt Tebbutt.

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A Banijay spokeswoman told the outlet: "No decisions have been made yet about the presenting line-up for the future series of MasterChef. We won't comment on speculation."

When Matt announced his role as the new judge last September, he gushed: "It's an absolute honour to be working alongside these two titans of the food world.

"Their knowledge and uncompromising attitude are now the stuff of legend, and I look forward to them taking me under their wing and seeing the chefs get off to a flying start in the competition!"