Saturday Kitchen viewers switch off over Alex Jones decision

Saturday Kitchen viewers switched off this morning after Alex Jones stepped in for regular host Matt Tebbutt. The One Show favourite temporarily took over from the chef, who was absent due to a “long-standing commitment”. Despite the 49-year-old being set to return next weekend, many took to X, formerly Twitter , to complain about his stand-in, 46. Many claimed they were turning off and that a cook should have been hired instead. While others suggested wine expert Olly Smith, who has been appearing in the popular series since 2007, should have been asked to front the instalment. Alex Jones took over the reigns on Saturday Kitchen today (Image: BBC) Saturday Kitchen viewers claimed Olly Smith should’ve hosted instead (Image: BBC) Before handing over from BBC Breakfast, Charlie Stayt spoke to Alex via video link, with her teasing what was to come. The 61-year-old noted: “Matt’s disappeared and you’re there instead.” She replied: “Absolutely! Matt’s away and I’m here to play!” Matt’s representative told the MailOnline he was “absent due to having a long-standing commitment and will return to the show next week”. Despite the one-week change, one fan raged: “Alex Jones? Not a chance. Back to James Martin #SaturdayKitchen.” Matt Tebbutt missed the show due to a long-standing commitment (Image: Getty) Two others agreed: “Alex Jones hosting #SaturdayKitchen Why? I’m gone,” and: “Saw Alex Jones and switched #SaturdayKitchen off immediately.” “#SaturdayKitchen Good start Alex. Got Ching’s name wrong. Couldn’t they find a chef or a food person?” a fourth asked. Others questioned why Olly wasn’t in charge of the broadcast: “Olly has proved himself as presenter of this show… So over it goes #saturdaykitchen.” Someone else echoed: “Olly could’ve presented the show and still done this cocktail time filler without the assistance of Alex Jones… #saturdaykitchen.” Saturday Kitchen viewers took to X, formerly Twitter (Image: TWITTER) Another tweet read: “Alex: What wine have you chosen to accompany this dish Olly? Olly: Who bl**dy cares, I should be presenting this morning and Helen should be doing the wine.” “No offence to Alex Jones, nice lady but Ollie Smith would have been the stand-in host for me this morning – he’s done it brilliant before for me. #SaturdayKitchen,”(sic) one viewer remarked. Thankfully some were full of praise for the new presenter: “I’m quite enjoying Alex’s presenting style this morning. #saturdaykitchen.” And: “What on earth has Alex Jones done wrong. The comments here! #saturdaykitchen.” A third positive post added: “Live TV is hard. Alex Jones makes it look easy. She is very good at her job. #saturdaykitchen.”