MasterChef was moved off its usual One slot on Thursday 14 May and pushed to Two, as the broadcaster cleared space for coverage of the second Eurovision semi-final. Tonight's episode began at 8pm on Two, while One carried Eurovision from 8pm until 10:15pm.
Six chefs arrived for the last heat of this year's competition in the episode fronted by Grace Dent and Anna Haugh, who are hosting the 2026 season. For viewers who did not want to wait, tonight's and tomorrow's episodes were also available on iPlayer.
The change was the latest sign of how Eurovision continues to reshape the 's evening schedule. MasterChef normally airs three episodes a week at 8pm or 9pm on One, but Thursday's switch left it sharing attention with a live contest involving 35 countries and a second semi-final that would decide 10 of the remaining places in Saturday's grand final.
The timing matters because this was not a routine reshuffle. After the first Eurovision semi-final on Tuesday 12 May, the broadcaster was building toward a decisive night for the contest, and that meant one of its best-known food shows had to move. Race Across the World had already aired a day earlier on Wednesday this week, underscoring how scheduling has been adjusted around the competition.
That leaves MasterChef in a familiar position for a public-service broadcaster balancing two audiences at once: one drawn to a major live event, the other expecting a flagship series to stay on the air. The answer on Thursday was simple enough. Eurovision got One, and Grace Dent's MasterChef went to Two, with iPlayer there for anyone who wanted to watch on their own time.
