TVE defends 'Masterchef' of accusations of supporting pederasty and 'bullying'

RTVE has come out today in defense of the cooking contest Masterchef after the program RTVE: Responds, space of the defender of the spectator, has received several complaints in reference to attitudes and expressions that have been seen and heard in the talent show. Several viewers have protested against the fact that a family space such as is Masterchef uses the expression sugar daddy -a concept that is usually used to refer to older men who maintain relationships with younger people in exchange for gifts and money- to talk about one of the contestants of this edition. Toñi Prieto, Director of entertainment at TVE, has assured, in response to a viewer who accused the program of of making "apology for pedophilia", that the expression was used "without an implicit sexual connotation".

As Prieto explained, the program used the expression sugar daddy to refer to a contestant, Dani, who is much older than the rest of his fellow contestants. "Taking into account the context in which the expression has been used in the program, it has always been referring to the fact that the age difference could lead to a possible protective attitude of the applicant with respect to the younger contestants", Prieto remarked.

The contest has also been criticized for the possible mistreatment of a contestant, Ofelia, at the hands of her fellow contestants. In this sense, Prieto has denied that the contestant is the victim of bullying and has assured that these are rivalries inherent to the contest. Another of the complaints highlighted that this contestant was forced to cook colt meat despite the fact that the contest knew the affective link she has with horses. Regarding this controversy, the Director of entertainment of TVE has assured that "the contestants have to be able to face different situations if in the future they want to dedicate themselves to the world of gastronomy".