MasterChef star reveals a furious chef stalked him after bad review

William Sitwell, centre, said he was stalked by a chef after receiving scary threats (Picture: BBC /Shine TV) A MasterChef star has revealed how he was forced to call the police after getting stalked by a furious chef. Restaurant critic and writer William Sitwell has appeared on MasterChef for more than a decade and remains one of the show’s long-standing guest judges. However, his searing critiques of chef’s judges has not always gone down well, especially when visiting a restaurant. Speaking to Vanessa Feltz on her Channel 5 talk show, William revealed: ‘I was stalked by a chef who sent me texts, voicemails, emails, saying ‘get used to having me in the back of your mind wherever you go, you know I’m on your tail, I’m going to find you, don’t walk down a street thinking you’re safe’, and all that sort of stuff. ‘His reaction was extreme and then I actually discovered subsequently that he was he had a record of sort of going after people slightly unpleasantly. ‘I did call the police once my wife got paranoid because she saw someone in a white coat at the end of the drive and she thought it was him.’ The restaurant critic has appeared on various forms of MasterChef for more than a decade (Picture: BBC) William with Jimi Famurewa and Xanthe Clay on MasterChef: The Professionals (Picture: BBC/Shine TV) Speaking to The Telegraph earlier this year, William admitted that as a critic he has been ‘savage’ at times, but he is now getting a ‘taste of my own medicine’. He told the publication: ‘I always said negative reviews should be met with a cool head, not an explosive reaction. Unfortunately, I did not practise what I preached.’ Throughout his time on the BBC cooking show, William has worked alongside a number of stars, including former hosts Gregg Wallace and John Torode. In April it was revealed that Gregg has returned to the culinary world after he left MasterChef in 2024 following allegations of inappropriate behaviour behind the scenes. The 61-year-old announced plans for a new cooking show titled Gregg’s Kitchen. William featured as a guest judge on MasterChef with former hosts John Torode and Gregg Wallace (Picture: Instagram/William Sitwell) The critic, far left, on MasterChef: Battle of the Critics with Grace Dent, Jay Rayner, Leyla Kazim and Jimi Famurewa (Picture: BBC /Shine TV) The show was a 12-hour  TikTok  live cooking show, which went live on April 5. Last month Matt Tebbutt , who replaced the scandal-hit Gregg in September 2025 on MasterChef: The Professionals, was told that he would not be returning for the next series  of the spin-off format. Speaking to  BBC  Radio 4’s  The Food Programme , Matt was asked by presenter Jaega Wise about how difficult his exit from the show was. ‘It was, yes, of course it is,’ he said. ‘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