Episode 6 Celebrity MasterChef

Sharpen your knives because we've got 20 great celebrities

who want to show how good they are in the kitchen.

Everything I'm doing at the moment is MasterChef.

They've filled stadiums, they've smashed records,

they've performed in front of thousands of screaming fans,

but can they cook?

I love not knowing what might be coming next.

Life's too short to play safe, isn't it?

It's like you're on a submarine that's sprung a leak.

I enjoy that sort of mental panic.

Who's going to be the cherry on the cake?

Who's going to be the rotten egg?

Get 'em in, we'll find out.

This week, the MasterChef heats have pitted five celebrities

against each other.

Ah, it's frozen!

Argh.

# When I'm calling you... #

Last time, broadcaster Aasmah Mir was sent home.

Now the remaining four are back to fight for a place in the semifinals.

The competition means so much to me.

I want to try and push myself as far as I can go.

I genuinely fist-bumped myself when I walked out of the kitchen

last time. All I know is that I'm loving this

and I want to get better.

My MasterChef experience so far,

it's been incredibly exciting.

It's been tough in places.

It's been nerve-racking.

Actually, it's beyond my wildest dreams.

I've been too busy doing it to necessarily enjoy it.

It's like asking Sebastian Vettel

when he's going round the corner at 140,

"Are you enjoying this?" "I don't know!"

Good to see you back here in the MasterChef kitchen.

You probably don't need me to tell you

that it's not going to get any easier.

We've got some big challenges waiting for you.

This round we call the knowledge and skills test.

We want to know a little bit about you,

about your culinary brain

and a little bit about your ambition and your tenacity.

We're going to call you in one by one and see what you know.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Off you go.

I don't know anything. I have no skills.

GREGG CHUCKLES

-They are scared.

-Nah. Really?

-Yeah, yeah.

-They'll be fine.

-This is hell.

-Have you got any skills?

I have no skills! Didn't they tell them?

-Can you juggle?

-I am a skill-free zone.

I cook for myself at home. I can cook a chicken...

without giving myself food poisoning.

In the world of cooking, there are a million skills.

I have some but there's many I probably don't have.

I definitely don't have.

This is the knowledge test.

I want to see if they can identify three root veg and three birds.

Two of these root veg are radishes.

This has got three names -

white radish, mooli or daikon.

These are a personal favourite.

This is the French breakfast radish.

That is a good old-fashioned British parsnip.

Let's just hope they all know what a parsnip is.

If they don't get a parsnip,

I don't think there's a place for them on MasterChef.

-Stranger things have happened.

-Now, three birds.

This is trickier than the veg.

This is a poussin, or a baby chicken.

This is a mallard, a wild duck.

You can see by its skin it's a duck.

This one may be the trickiest of all, this is a pigeon.

It's identifiable because of the darkness of its flesh

and the thinness of its skin.

I would personally like them to get two of the veg

and at least one of the birds.

The skills test today is all about meat cookery.

As you well know,

the beauty of a piece of duck is crispy skin

and flesh which melts in your mouth.

We're going to serve that duck breast with some Swiss chard...

-Ooh.

-..and some caper and butter sauce.

Ooh, John, that's lovely. How long are we going to give them?

12 minutes.

Take the duck breast...

and go through the skin just into the flesh.

And then across the other way.

Ah.

To ensure a crispy skin, the duck breast must go skin side down

into a cold pan with no oil or butter.

They're going to be looking around for some oil.

That, I think, is going to confuse them.

About four or five minutes on the skin side

and then turn it onto its flesh side.

Lovely.

Use that fat just back on the top again.

How are they going to know when that's cooked properly?

It bounces back.

There's give here, no give there. That end's cooked. This end's not.

Whilst the duck rests, I'm going to prepare the Swiss chard.

As you well know, it comes in two parts -

the white stem, which is quite hard, and the green leaves,

and they need to be cooked separately.

Stalks first.

It's a two-stage process.

Then drop in the leaves and take straight off the heat.

-Really?

-Yes.

Just enough to be able to wilt it.

Next, a simple caper butter sauce.

If they've never made a caper butter sauce before,

they've got capers and butter

and the clue's pretty much in the name, right?

Add to that duck pan a little bit of butter

and some capers.

And then a small amount of the vinegar from the capers,

which will help to deglaze that pan.

-Some capers across the top.

-Mmm!

And the duck breast should be pink all the way through.

I will not accept a grey duck. I want a pink duck.

So there we are, our skills test - how to cook a duck breast.

I'll be really, really happy if they can all recreate this.

We've just got to get them in

-and hope they know how to cook a duck breast.

-Let's hope so.

First up is TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson.

In the last round,

a lack of confidence led to some fundamental mistakes.

I'm sorry, I can't eat your lamb.

Agh!

But she showed great promise.

Your fish is cooked beautifully.

You're a good cook.

I can't afford to make any more mistakes.

Oops.

I'm sort of having a little bit of a cold sweat.

-You all right?

-Yes.

-There's no lamb here.

-Ho-ho!

-This is skills and knowledge.

-OK.

Knowledge bit first.

-OK.

-Under this cloth are six ingredients

we'd like you to try and identify.

-OK.

-You've got two minutes.

Marvellous.

I have some knowledge, right? I'm not entirely stupid.

What are you looking for, Ulrika?

Er... I don't know.

Right.

-VOICEOVER:

-It feels worse if it's an easy task and you get it wrong.

Something like, erm...

a bird-type thing.

-Well, yeah.

-Oh!

Could it be a little poussin?

It's only easy if you know the stuff, so it's like...

I don't know.

Duck, could it be a duck?

I'm impressed with you.

I think you got four and a half, almost five, out of six.

That's pretty good. I don't think you should get flustered.

I think you're better than you think you are.

-You should just trust yourself.

-Yeah. A little ducky thing.

It is a little ducky thing, it's called a mallard.

Right. This next bit is a skills test.

Cook for us breast of duck and Swiss shard and a caper butter sauce.

-OK.

-You have 12 minutes.

-12 minutes?

-Yes.

-Holy macaroni.

Yep. Are you happy with that? You know what you gotta do?

-Yeah, start.

-Off you go.

I've never cooked duck.

Now, hang on a minute.

Is this one of these where I should start with the pan cold?

-Trust your instincts.

-Oh, I've never cooked duck,

I've never cooked duck, I've never cooked duck!

In there I should add... It probably doesn't need very much fat.

It's got a little bit of fat on it.

PAN SPITS

Oh, sorry.

And Swiss chard, you've cooked with that before?

Yeah, and, to be honest, I cook it all together.

Some people like the hard bits done separately.

-You've got eight minutes now.

-Oh, God.

-Happy with that?

-Well, it's not finished yet, so no.

Not yet. No.

You're doing good.

Wahey!

Come on!

You've got 30 seconds left.

Oh, that's so... That's not... Oh, God. It's a...

Oh...

OK?

Ulrika, look what you've done...

in 12 minutes.

You have some really good skills.

You need to trust yourself because what you did with the cold pan

is absolutely right with a piece of duck.

What you didn't do was score the skin first.

-If you had scored the skin...

-Oh, it would've let the heat in.

-And the fat would have rendered a lot quicker.

-Right.

-And that duck breast would have been cooked all the way through.

-OK.

Your Swiss chard, I would have preferred the whites

-to have been cooked separate to the greens...

-Yeah.

Let me tell you, I'd eat that.

And I've had it rarer in restaurants.

I would like some more seasoning and butter through my chard,

I'd like some pepper and salt on my duck, but it's not a bad job.

Listen, you're doing OK.

I do think this lack of confidence might damage you

if you don't sort it out cos you are a decent cook.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-See you later.

-Well done.

She's OK, you know?

-She's pretty good.

-She knows what to do,

she's just got to believe in herself.

I really, really needed that boost.

I feel buoyed by this.

I'm really looking forward to things now. I feel like...

Oh... Yeah, I'm...

This feels much better.

-NICK:

-Hello, chaps.

-Actor Nick Moran...

-Hello, mate!

..has already shown flair and culinary knowledge.

What we've got there is really tasty, delicious food.

Although some of his ideas have bordered on the eccentric.

That looks like a pasty you'd get served in Star Trek.

HE LAUGHS

It's a bright lilac pasty.

I shall go in there Zen like.

I shall leave all revenge,

hate and resentment at the tent door and walk in

with an open heart and an open hand.

I shall see what happens.

I might come out of there in tears...

-Righto, Nick. You're going to have two minutes.

-OK.

-VOICEOVER:

-You're racking your brains.

What don't I know? Well, there's loads of stuff I don't know

and I wouldn't know it...cos otherwise I would know it.

Some sort of duck.

Some sort of guinea fowl.

You're quite right when you say it's some sort of.

Some sort of, some sort of bird, I'd have thought.

I can only do my best, although I can also do really badly.

It's a parsnip.

-Why have you written turnip?

-Cos I'm an idiot.

-But a turnip's a round one.

-Yeah.

-Sorry.

-Seen one of those before, Nick?

-I'm trying to place the taste.

Argh!

You're right, but can you spell it?

It's like a goose but smaller cos it's got the same back.

And that is not a celeriac but I'm going to write celeriac.

Right. You got two of the veg.

We'll give you radish and parsnip,

and we'll give you poussin and duck.

But you got the mooli wrong and you got the pigeon wrong.

So you got four out of six.

-Yeah.

-We would like you to cook for us a breast of duck, Swiss chard,

and a butter caper sauce.

-Cooked duck breast before?

-Yep.

-Good. Off you go, Nick.

I'm going to season this from a height.

-Why from a height?

-Cos that's what chefs do.

That's what chefs do, yeah.

-Low heat.

-Why?

Because the fat will come out of it.

Its own fat will come out of it nice and slowly.

The oven's on because what I'm going to do, once I sear up the skin,

I'm going to give it round about six or seven minutes in the oven.

-Have you cooked chard before, Nick?

-No.

I'm just going to do it like I would do spinach, to be honest.

Six minutes gone, six minutes left.

Come on, get hot.

The more you shake that pan, the less it's going to get hot.

-Thank you.

-You've still got five minutes, Nick.

You don't have to do something all the time, mate.

You know what you lack? You lack a little bit of patience.

-Yes...

-Sometimes you just have to play the waiting game.

Well, I'm going to wait until... I think...

I think that my...

See what I mean?

Now that's done. I think my duck...

-Nick, just take your time, mate.

-OK.

Honestly, just take your time.

I'm going to give it until the very, very last second and then I'm going

to present you with the duck and I am absolutely positive

that five minutes in a hot oven

is going to be enough to cook it to the core.

The duck meat inside, it's a little too pink.

-All done, Nick?

-Yeah. I'm really sorry.

-That's a disaster.

-Just, just...

Ah, man.

-It's too pink.

-It is too pink but I'm OK with that. Do you know why?

Because I honestly believe you know how to cook a duck breast.

Nick, do keep on tasting your food all the time.

Your sauce with the capers and the butter

has got far too much pepper in it.

It would be really nice to use that juice and the flavour

from the duck from the pan.

You're a cook but I do worry at the pace that you work.

I think you'd be a much, much better cook

-if you took a more measured approach.

-Right.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

He's annoyed with himself.

The annoying thing was, the skills test was something that I'd done.

I wasn't thinking straight...

and that's frustrating.

-BARNEY:

-Hello.

Children's TV presenter Barney Harwood

has delivered crowd-pleasing dishes which show real talent.

I'd like to see more of your stuff cos I like this.

Wow.

What even is a skills and knowledge test?

Whatever it is, I'm just going to go in there with enthusiasm

and hopefully learn a bit along the way as well.

-Underneath this cloth are six ingredients.

-OK.

And all we want you to do is try and identify them and write them down.

OK.

-VOICEOVER:

-My knowledge of ingredients is probably...

Well, I'm from Blackpool,

I've only really eaten chips for the past 30 years.

Two is wood pigeon.

-Righto.

-I think three might be duck.

I did a cheese competition recently

that I was asked to try some cheese and name them all,

and I got five out of six.

I didn't know I knew that much about cheese,

so maybe I'll prove myself wrong on this one, I don't know.

-Can I taste these?

-You can.

-Yeah.

If you've had bitten the end off, we could've used the rest of that.

-He's not going to help you.

-BARNEY LAUGHS

It's quite peppery and earthy, that, isn't it?

What's peppery in a vegetable? It's a root.

You're absolutely right, it's a root and it's peppery.

The only root I know is beetroot, so it might be a type of beetroot.

I don't know. It's a guess, that one.

-You done?

-Yeah.

That's mooli, it's an Asian radish.

-OK.

-Not bad.

-I think you got four out of six, which isn't bad at all.

-OK.

-All right.

-Your knowledge is good.

Now what we would like to do is test your skills.

We would like a breast of duck, Swiss chard

and a caper and butter sauce.

-Are you happy?

-I'm happy and ready to go.

-Go.

Have you cooked a duck breast before, Barney?

-No.

-You've eaten one, though, yeah?

-No, only crispy duck.

-I don't know about the duck breast.

-Oh.

-Have you cooked Swiss chard before?

-Nope.

That's disgusting. That's not edible.

-Of course it is.

-Is it? As a side or cooked?

-Cooked...would be nice.

-OK, I...

-That's the idea of cooking, usually,

-is we cook things.

-It is. Yeah, I've never done it before...

MasterChef, not MasterSalad.

I don't know about the stalk, so I'll leave it out.

You've got eight minutes left.

Where did you learn to baste like that?

Seen it on the telly.

Quite spongy, which means it's not cooked enough if it was a steak,

-not enough for me anyway.

-Good.

-That's it, you've got it right, trust yourself.

-OK.

How are you going to cook that shard, then?

In oil and some salt. I've no idea how to cook it.

-You could always boil the Swiss chard rather than...

-Yeah.

-..fry it.

-Yeah, of course you could.

Your cook's mind's working it out, isn't it, Barney?

-It starts to make sense.

-Yep.

-You've not made a caper and butter sauce?

-Never.

-All done?

-All done.

Well done, Barney.

Well done.

You worked out that the Swiss chard was like spinach,

so cook it like that,

and you cooked your duck breast like a steak.

-Not perfect but you got there. You got there.

-Yeah.

The chard, I'm pleased you just cooked the leaves.

You didn't know what to do with the stems, so you got rid of them.

What you did is absolutely right.

Your duck breast itself is cooked nicely

but you need to score that skin.

Let that duck cook a bit more before you put the butter in,

but what you're doing with basting is good

and that result of that is a very lovely, moist duck breast.

Butter and capers, it's lovely, it's salty and it's sharp

and it's wonderful. So, OK, you did pretty good.

-Barney, thank you.

-Thank you.

He didn't give up and he actually got a decent dish up.

That was terrifying, but it was good to go in there not knowing something

and then come out knowing something.

If I was to go back in and do it now,

it would be ten times better than it was then.

Finally, it's Lesley, who, despite overdoing it in the first round...

It does look like you may have chucked everything

you could find into that.

..went on to produce the standout dish of the day.

If I was down with the kids,

I'd high-five you right now cos I think that's delicious.

Oh, thank you.

I had no idea what kind of cook I was.

I'm completely self-taught,

so it's a wonderful surprise to me to find that I'm holding my own.

Go on, take the cloth off.

Oh...

Parsnip, my favourite vegetable.

-Is it?

-Oh, I love roast parsnips, don't you?

Parsnip puree, parsnip, you know, on toast for me. I love parsnip.

No, kidding. Kidding.

The thing that's the pressure is the element of the unknown.

If I am performing, I know exactly what I am doing,

and I'll have done it 1,000 times before,

and I'll feel confident that it won't go wrong...

I think these are radishes.

I've got a great fondness for the radish.

..but, with this,

anything could go wrong.

Could be a pheasant, could be a guinea fowl,

but it's a bit small for a guinea fowl.

I think it's a kind of radish, another kind of radish.

By my reckoning, you got four out of six.

-You got all the veg and one of the birds.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-That's not too bad.

Wow. So far, so good.

-What we'd like from you, please, is a breast of duck...

-Yes.

-..Swiss chard and a caper and butter sauce.

-OK, yeah.

OK, off you go.

Is duck is something you cook and eat quite often, Lesley?

Yes, actually.

I don't cook chard very often, so that's a slightly new one on me.

So you're going to stir-fry the shard?

Yeah. Is that OK?

Do what you want to do.

Caper and butter sauce.

It's just capers and butter and salt, isn't it?

Well, what do you expect to find in a caper and butter sauce?

Caper and butter.

-Are you happy with your duck?

-Yeah.

Lesley, you've got two minutes.

Now, that's a bit rare, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Well, I'll tell you what, in the spirit of rescuing things...

That's it - that's the spirit that got us through the Blitz.

I admire that, I really do.

Right, you've got 60 seconds.

Final touches, Lesley, please.

-All done?

-That'll do, yeah.

I rescued it, you know.

Used your brain, got the pan hot,

and got it cooked for us to be able to eat it.

Great.

-That's lovely.

-Is it OK?

That's really, really lovely.

You've got crispy bits in. You've got good seasoning.

Your duck, because you rescued it, is cooked.

You've got lovely Swiss chard crunch and a really nice, buttery, sharp,

salty caper sauce.

Go, Lesley!

It's not absolutely perfect, but you know what?

I'd eat the whole lot.

-WHISPERING:

-Wow.

-Are you pleased?

-I'm really pleased you're pleased, yeah.

Lesley, thank you.

Thank you.

SHE GIGGLES

Yes!

She's such a good cook.

No, she's a great cook, a great cook.

That was nearly a total disaster...

..but I snatched success from the jaws of defeat.

This goes to show, they have knowledge, they have skills.

This competition can be stressful, but the stress they face today is

nothing compared to what's waiting for them.

-Absolutely.

-Do you know what?

We might actually chuck them a googly.

It's 9am and Ulrika, Lesley,

Barney and Nick are travelling across London to face

their biggest challenge yet.

Welcome to the iconic Oval cricket ground,

one of the oldest cricket grounds in the world,

and, of course, home to Surrey County Cricket Club.

Today is a team task.

Nick and Lesley, you guys work together.

-Lovely.

-Lovely.

Barney and Ulrika, you are working together.

-OK, cool.

-Great.

A big day today -

you guys, between you, are going to feed 120 people.

-THEY SIGH

-Oh, good!

Mass catering, fantastic!

You're going to have to consider your audience,

everything from maintenance and ground staff

through to players and coaches.

-WHISPERING:

-Oh, yes, fantastic!

No boundaries today at all.

You've got to hit it for six.

Ladies and gentlemen, lunch is in two and a half hours.

I say, off you go.

It's a first for me, I've never cooked for that many people before -

maybe five maximum so far.

17 I've done, but that's about it.

OK, so that's 22 between us.

-Yeah.

-What have we got, 120?

-We're in trouble. We're in big trouble.

-Don't say that.

We can make a pastry Welly.

Maybe I'll just make a giant one of them, a really massive one.

Big pastry Welly.

Well, a cricket bat. We could do a big cricket bat, couldn't we?

-Massive cricket bat, OK.

-Simple - beef Wellington cricket bat.

-As a cricket bat?

-Yeah!

The celebrities will be working under head chef Kapil Kaushik.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-How are you?

-Hiya, hiya, hiya.

Welcome to the Oval. We have some lovely ingredients for you.

You've got ten minutes to come up with a menu.

-Are we happy with that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, fantastic.

-Good. Let's go.

Each team must now choose from a larder which includes beef mince,

sea bream and chicken supreme,

as well as a wide range of fruit, vegetables and dairy products,

and a selection of herbs and spices.

Each team will have two and a half hours to cook

70 meat or fish main courses...

When you go on location, you have the classics -

-cottage pies, chillies, they're all crowd pleasers.

-Yeah.

..as well as 25 vegetarian mains.

I think I know what to do for my vegetarian.

I'm going to do stuffed peppers.

We could do with the sweet potato...

-Like a veggie curry option?

-Yeah.

Yeah. There's definitely curry ingredients here.

-We're good to go on that.

-I'm loving all this fruit.

They must also produce 70 portions of dessert.

Right, we've got flour, eggs, butter...

-Yes.

-..so we've got sponge.

The pressure today is going to be on.

Bowls. Bowls, bowls, bowls, bowls.

Bowls, bowls, bowls...

They've got to come out of the blocks sprinting.

Get together in a team,

work out what it is you're going to do as quick as you can...

Let's start prepping. Where are the cutting boards?

..roll your sleeves up, get your nut down and get that prep done.

Would you like a hat?

-Yes! Of course I'd like a hat.

-Excellent.

Most importantly, Lesley...

Put it on me, go on.

-I love a cheeky hat.

-# Da da da da. #

-There we are.

-A Team.

-A Team.

-Yes.

He's got A-level chopping.

I've got A Levels in other things.

-Lesley.

-Chef.

-So, what are we doing today?

Vegetarian dish, we're going to stuff some peppers

-with a vegetarian Bolognese.

-All right.

We're going to do marinaded chicken and mixed, roasted vegetables.

-OK.

-And then, for the dessert,

we're going to do pineapple and then a sponge on the top.

-Does that sound OK?

-Yeah, that sounds all right.

-Yeah.

Nick's already tackling the veg prep for

the vegetarian stuffed pepper filling...

-Is a half a pepper a portion?

-Yeah.

Let's agree what we're putting in the half-peppers.

Yeah, courgette, red onion,

-erm, mushrooms.

-Mushrooms.

-Garlic.

-That's enough.

Salt and pepper?!

..while Lesley makes a start on the garlic,

white wine and coriander marinade for their chicken.

You've got to really think big, haven't you?

-You've got to scale up.

-Have you seasoned it?

Not yet. I know, give it a minute.

OK. This is coriander.

I'll give you a good seasoning.

Yeah, it's pretty good, isn't it? Just chuck it in there.

We'll put some more wine in afterwards.

You're the only person, Nick, who's able to keep Lesley quiet.

You can't get a word in edgeways, can you?

How are you feeling about that?

If it's what's Nick needs to do to feel comfortable,

I'm going to go with it because, for now,

I want Nick to be calm and focused

-and I want myself to be calm and focused...

-Absolutely.

..so we haven't got time to be fighting.

Enjoy.

Lesley and Nick are showing a fair amount of ambition with their

stuffed peppers and their chicken,

but they've got to keep their eye on the clock.

They can't afford to slacken off.

On the other side of the kitchen,

Ulrika and Barney also have a mountain of prep to get through.

Tell me what the menu concept is.

Barney is working, at the moment, on the vegetarian curry,

which will be coconuty with sweet potato,

-butternut squash and peppers.

-Yeah.

-I'm working on a chilli con carne with some chocolate in it...

-Yum.

..served with rice.

And then, for pudding,

we're going to do a chocolate bread-and-butter pudding.

OK, so what lovely bits are you going to put on the side?

Because when you do a chilli con carne,

do you get sour cream or do you get nachos?

-If you guys can get pushed now...

-That, yeah, yeah.

..get all the basic stuff out the way...

You can do the pretty stuff.

-That's it, and the pretty stuff will make the difference.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, no, I know.

-Do you know what I mean?

All the special bits, please.

-OK, will do.

-Thank you, thank you.

-Love ya.

At the moment, we're trying to get as much done as possible

as efficiently as possible,

so Ulrika's doing the onions, cos I need them in my dish,

she needs them in hers,

so we're getting all the veg done first

cos that's the bulk of the work.

I cook for six, that's fine,

but cooking for 70 is, kind of, a slightly different thing.

With her chilli prep well underway,

Ulrika is worried about a key component.

I don't know how to gauge how many chillies are going to go in.

I don't do a lot of hot things at home

because little kiddies aren't all that big on it -

although they're getting better - but that's what I've got Barney for.

-What's that?

-The amount of chillies that go in is something

you'll help me with because I don't know spice-wise, heat-wise.

The secret is to put less in than you think and if it's too...

Cos they cook... They get hotter as you cook them.

They do, yeah.

Barney is also unsure about the spicing of his curry.

Chef, when you're making a curry paste,

do you make the paste first and then get it in for the marinade?

We would make the marinade separately...

-Yeah.

-..and then mix it together.

-Yes, that's the idea, yeah.

-That's perfect.

-OK.

This is such an important dish

cos it's the only choice for some people.

If we make it too spicy and we've mixed all the vegetables together,

we've got to start again and make more veg,

so I'm making the paste separately, just trying it as I go along.

Good move, Barney!

It's all right, you know.

Built on part of the former Kennington Common in South London,

the Oval has been the home of Surrey County Cricket club since it opened

its gates in 1845.

The club has won the County Championship 18 times outright,

which, with the exception of Yorkshire,

is more than any other county.

The first official Test match in England

was played at the Oval in 1880 against Australia.

To keep things running smoothly, a large team of groundskeepers,

maintenance workers,

tour guides and office staff work behind the scenes every day,

all year round.

Whilst on the field, there's a team of coaches and players

for whom diet is very important.

The guys work hard - they're athletes -

but when you work hard you've also got to make sure they refuel.

You've got to make sure that they're fed correctly -

the correct things, but also fed the correct amounts,

and they're pretty disciplined, this group.

LESLEY SINGS A HIGH NOTE

With an hour gone,

Lesley and Nick's chicken is prepared and marinating...

-Sponge!

-Oh...

..and Lesley has started on the mix for the pineapple sponge dessert.

It will take some time.

I'm not too sure whether she knew the recipe.

Let's see what comes out, but hopefully it'll be nice and tasty.

I'm making a big sponge.

How long is a sponge going to take to cook?

That's why I'm trying to get it done.

What's the biggest amount of sponge you've ever made before?

Erm...

About that?

-I love the idea of pineapple, sponge and coconut custard...

-Yeah, yeah.

..if you can get it done.

I just have to crack on.

I've got a big machine over there.

Haven't you been cracking on?

I'm doing me best, sweetie.

How do I get these into there? Do I just lob them straight in?

But team-mate Nick hasn't moved on from his vegetable preparation.

Oh, come on...

I might need you to help me cut the pineapple.

I might not be strong enough.

Absolutely, I'll be over there in a second. I'll just...

-I can do this.

-Yeah, OK.

-I'll cut the pineapple.

-Swap.

-You give these a rinse.

-Yes.

So give those... Start chopping.

I know how to do it, Nick. Thank you.

I wanted to do shepherd's pie!

Oh, no! Got to be a bit more ambitious than that.

Lesley, is this enough pineapple for you?

How much are you going to need, do you think?

-A lot more than that.

-OK.

Show me the size of chunks you want.

I would want one person to be doing one job

cos if both of you are doing one job...

-We are.

-Yeah, we are, chief.

-..we are not doing the other jobs, yeah?

-And we are running out of time.

-Uh-huh.

I want to get these in and then I've got to get this sponge in -

my sponge is my big, big worry.

Whilst Lesley frets about her sponge,

Nick is distracted by the chicken

and abandons the pineapple prep.

Oh, dear. I'm just trying to tidy this up a little bit

before it goes in.

You know, it's a little bit, scrags of skin and things that

aren't going to look very appetising when it goes on a plate.

Nick... Where's Nick? Nick!

Nick!

One, two, three, four, five.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten...

I'll tell you what, if we're late, I'll go out and give them a song.

You know, that usually works in my experience.

# Ho ho ho ho ho! #

Ulrika's finished her veg prep and has started to cook the chilli.

This is a proper workout.

I mean, I always know that cooking takes a lot of energy -

I'm always exhausted when I've done a big load of cooking -

but this is like...Olympian type of cooking.

Oh, it's browning! I'm so excited.

Who's doing dessert?

Maybe a...duet?

-When?

-Oh, we're doing it, well, once we've got this started.

-Really?

-Maybe at the same time, right now.

-I'm on dessert now, by the way, Ulrika.

-Maybe at the same time.

Your eyes are telling me "at the same time".

-I'm on dessert.

-Barney's started it, right away. He's already on dessert.

I love Barney. That's why I love working with Barney - he's on it!

Welcome to the world of chocolate bread-and-butter pudding.

Now, bread-and-butter pudding is a pretty good pudding as it stands,

but, when you add a little bit of dark chocolate sugariness to it,

oh, my goodness, does it come alive.

So this is to be poured over the top of the bread-and-butter pudding.

It takes some whisking, it really does.

I mean, look at that arm. Look at this one.

It smells amazing and I think it looks

like a bread-and-butter pudding should do.

Ulrika has browned the mince and now needs to add the spice.

I've got to get the chilies in.

Chillies, chillies, chillies, chillies.

-Chillies for the chilli.

-Chillies, right.

MUSIC: Ring Of Fire by Johnny Cash

Red or green chillies?

Red or green chillies?

I think you need to check with Barney...

-Green chillies, yeah?

-Green. Green are hotter, yeah.

-And chopped?

-As a team, you need to figure out

-what you're going to serve.

-OK.

# I fell into a burning ring of fire

# I went down, down, down

# And the flames went fire

# And it burns, burns, burns

# The ring of fire

# The ring of fire... #

-How's it tasting?

-I think it needs more...something.

-Yeah, it's not very hot, is it?

-No, well, they've only just gone in.

I did, like, eight chillies.

-Did you not want to taste it?

-Huh?

-Are you not allowed to taste it?

-I don't think so, no. Sorry.

Sorry. The players are midway through morning training

and will soon be making their way in for lunch.

Guys, that's an hour to go!

Yes, Chef! Yes, Chef.

Yes, Chef!

Nick and Lesley still need to cook their chicken,

their stuffed peppers...

Oh, come on!

..their roasted vegetables...

Ah...

I can't even speak, I'm so flustered.

..and their pineapple sponge pudding.

Right, this has got to go in.

-We've got to get this in.

-Nick and Lesley...

-Yes, Chef.

-You're a bit behind, yeah?

-No.

-You actually need to do a lot.

-Yes, Chef.

They are now up against it, I mean, seriously up against it.

They're running around like crazy.

Excuse me. Gangway, thank you.

Actually, they're running around so much,

they don't seem to be getting much cooking done.

We need to really, really push now. Yes, Chef. All right?

Lesley is nearly ready to pour sponge mix over her pineapples.

They'll be tiny portions.

I would take out a little bit of each of those

and make another tray.

OK. John has said I need to do three trays,

so could you get me another tray,

-and I'll divide this into another tray?

-Yeah, of course.

-Thank you.

-So just take half out of there, half out of there, yeah?

-LAUGHTER

-No...

A third out of here and a third out of there.

You know when you were little and you licked out the bowl at the end?

-SHE CHUCKLES

-I'm looking forward to that.

Oh, I've only just got enough for this sponge.

I hope there's enough.

Can I put this in the oven, please?

Yes. You have to, yeah? You have to put it in now.

Right, this is going in.

LESLEY SINGS A HIGH NOTE

# When you walk

# Through a storm

# Hold your head up high

# And don't be afraid of the dark. #

SHE EXHALES

Barney and Ulrika are on track.

-That's good.

-Oh, is it nice?

-That's good. That's good.

-Oh, thank you.

The chilli is cooking, my veg curry is on,

and we've got about 40 minutes left,

so we might still have enough time to do

our little flourishes at the end,

like the sour cream and the tortillas and that kind of stuff.

Ulrika seems to be slaving over that chilli con carne.

I hope she doesn't forget the rice.

Where's your rice?

That's what I was just doing, I was waiting for some cayenne,

it's come up, I've put it in. I'm going to go and do rice now.

No rice! No rice!

People may think cooking rice is easy,

but they have got to do a lot of rice.

This water's taking ages to boil, by the way.

I know, why is that?

I don't know. It's on full whack.

While the water for the rice heats up,

Barney and Ulrika focus on extras for their chilli and curry.

-Do you want help grating?

-Look, that's the grater they've got.

-Are you kidding me?

-What, in a kitchen this big?

-Do you want to open a restaurant together?

-Yes.

-Be good, wouldn't it?

-Yes, definitely.

I'd buy a bigger grater, that's for sure!

Now, I've worked out, using some rudimentary maths skills,

that I reckon two and a half kilos is enough.

Have you done the maths?

-You're so clever! You're so clever.

-Yeah, I did some rough maths.

Two plus two is...five.

With the morning's training over,

the Oval staff make their way to the canteen for lunch.

Guys, you've got ten minutes for service, yeah?

Let's tidy up and get the stuff out in the pass, please!

Aaargh!

I'm sure there'll be a few nerves, a few sweaty palms in the kitchens...

Oh, come on, boil!

No different to waiting to go out to bat, waiting to go out to bowl.

Be careful, it's too much.

Take some sauce out of this cos there's too much.

It's all about performing when it matters.

Oh, that looks fantastic.

Oh, my goodness. Look at that. It's beautiful.

But if you count to ten, deep breaths, bring your heart rate down,

and go and do your best...

Nick, bring everything here on the pass.

I want this chicken done...

-Barney, are we ready?

-Yes, Chef.

-Go and take it straight out to the serving area.

-OK.

-We are running out of time.

-That's fantastic.

Look at that. Well done, Lesley. Genius. You sweetheart.

Look at that!

-Look at all this food we've made.

-SHE CHUCKLES

The guys are waiting. Come on.

All that good food, we need to serve.

-Ready?

-Yeah.

-Let's go, then.

We've been in the marquee, netting and bowling and batting,

so we're absolutely starving

and just looking forward to getting some food.

Right.

We've been practising for two or three hours this morning,

a bit of sort of gym stuff and then some cricket stuff,

so, yeah, ready to go.

How are you?

-Good.

-Hi.

Hello. I'll go for the chicken.

You certainly can, sir.

-Can I help you?

-Chicken as well, please.

Great. Thank you very much.

Right off the bat,

Nick and Leslie's chicken with roasted vegetables

and a garlic and white wine sauce is proving popular.

Are you vegetarian, sir, or a chicken person?

-Chicken, please.

-Am I a chicken person?

Chicken was lovely.

I'd have liked a little bit more veg.

Probably a bigger bit of chicken - that would've been perfect.

Other than that, no. It was a nice meal.

It's quite good. Actually, it's going really good.

The chicken skin needs to be a bit crispier,

but nice flavours of garlic and a little white wine sauce.

The vegetables are good. I like the mixture of potatoes,

some peeled, some not.

They got it out and they got some flavour in it, which is good.

How hungry are you?

-Hungry.

-He is a growing lad.

-There you go, sir.

-The chilli?

Absolutely.

But diners are queueing out of the door

for Barney and Ulrika's beef mince chilli

with rice and sides of coriander, tortillas and grated cheese.

Not to be outdone, Nick attempts to whip up some extra business.

Right, if anyone wants chicken,

just make your way to the front of the queue and come and see us.

This is the chilli, is it?

No contest.

Went for the chilli, thought it was good.

I'm a bit of a spice man myself,

so I'd have liked it to be a bit stronger in that department,

but in general it was a very nice dish.

The portion was massive,

so a fat lad like me will get in trouble later on in the day,

and I'll end up having to do another gym session

because I'll polish all that off.

I'm really pleased they thought about doing things

like cheese and little tortillas and stuff,

but I think that chilli itself could be seasoned a lot, lot better.

Ulrika slaved over this.

It still hasn't resulted in any heat.

It's a nice chilli but it's not like a grown-up chilli.

Barney and Ulrika's vegetarian option

of Thai vegetable curry and cardamom basmati rice

with mint raita is proving less popular.

Oh, somebody should be having the curry.

Please may I have the vegetable curry?

-Of course you can.

-Oh, I see! It's a girl thing.

Someone is having a curry! We love you!

I don't normally really enjoy vegetarian food that much,

so I was actually really happy with it. It was sweet potato,

red pepper, and it was really, like, creamy and nice.

Yeah, it was decent.

The curry flavour is great.

You've got the coconut flavour but also the flavour of lime pickle.

The rice is cooked nicely.

The mint raita on the side is good.

It's those unwieldy great chunks of sweet potato

that are slightly putting me off.

-It tastes great and looks a bit sloppy.

-Yeah.

Nick and Leslie's vegetable ragu stuffed peppers

are also a slow seller.

There sits the lonely little pepper upon a plate.

Can I have the vegetarian, please?

Yes, you may.

I went for the stuffed peppers, which was the vegetarian option.

The potatoes and vegetables were delicious,

but the pepper was a little bit uncooked.

The pepper's lovely and sweet, giving off lots and lots of juice,

which is good because the filling inside is really reduced

for tomato and quite bitter.

And there's heat in there.

I quite like that.

You're not a fan of this, mate, are you?

Not a fan.

That's main course done, is it?

You're halfway through, just desserts to go now.

Do you know what? I thought it was all over then for a second.

I forgot about dessert.

Perfect.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Dessert is served!

Come and get it.

APPLAUSE

Ulrika and Barney's dessert

is chocolate bread and butter pudding with cream.

Vanilla cream on the end, if you want some.

There you go.

The bread and butter pudding, a bit of chocolate in it.

It was really nice, actually. Nice and crispy on the outside.

Maybe being critical,

a little bit undercooked in the middle but I'm not an expert, so...

I actually thought it was really, really good.

I loved the fact that it wasn't too sweet,

especially after the meal we had.

Promised a lot more. It doesn't look particularly good.

It's a little too sweet.

And also, the custard hasn't set properly around the bread.

That is not the best bread and butter pudding I've had in my life.

For their dessert,

Nick and Leslie have made pineapple sponge with coconut custard.

How about that?

Oh!

I had the pineapple cake and it was good.

It was really sweet, which I liked.

I wasn't so sure about the coconut custard.

Didn't get a lot of coconut coming through.

I did enjoy it, though.

Cake and custard, can't go wrong.

It's like a school dinner classic, isn't it?

Love it. Love it, love it, love it.

It's a light sweet sponge with sharp juicy pineapple,

served with a custard.

That's made this country great.

Well done.

-Hurray.

-Thanks for that.

These four are good.

I mean, really good.

I think today's mammoth challenge

proved just how good they really are.

You were the best partner I could've had called Barney.

I wasn't joking. We need to open our own restaurant.

Barney is an unflappable, very organised character.

He held that team together.

Yeah, I think it went really well. Nobody threw it back at us and said,

"That's awful slop. Get it out of my face!" Which is a good sign.

I think Ulrika is really growing in confidence.

The more challenges she does, the bigger the smile becomes.

I am exhausted and exhilarated,

but probably just a little bit more exhausted!

I sometimes worry about the level of Nick's ambition

but he pulled it out of the bag today.

Great ideas and he works like a Trojan.

I loved it. I really loved the chaos and the stress of those kitchens,

because there's a sense of achievement when it comes out.

What is the fun in doing something if it's easy?

I think Leslie was very clever today and, actually,

she held that team together.

That pineapple sponge and custard was delicious!

Sometimes, I did feel a bit defeated,

but then I thought, "We can do this."

And I guess that's what it's all about,

just persevering and just thinking on your feet.

I'm starting to be proud of myself.

From working in teams and bonding with each other,

it's back to the MasterChef kitchen.

And the thing is, we're still searching for our semifinalists.

All four of them, I think, are up for it.

All four of them are going to have to pull it out of the bag

if they want to stay.

After two days of intense competition,

these four celebrities now face one final challenge to decide who stays.

I'm absolutely going for it.

This is the real deal today, it really is.

Semifinals would be incredible but I can't think about that right now.

I'm absolutely taking this seriously.

I don't want to go home.

I want to stay here and carry on learning and having fun.

Being here now is quite amazing.

So, yeah, semifinals, here we come!

Welcome back. Always good to see you four back in the MasterChef kitchen.

You've had a very good competition.

You're not going to serve your food just to me and John.

We have invited three guest critics to taste your food,

three guest critics who understand this competition very well

because they were in it.

Louise Minchin,

Sam Nixon,

and the current Celebrity MasterChef champion Alexis Conrad.

We have just two semifinal places -

that means you have to be on your mettle.

Ladies and gentlemen, one hour for the first course,

15 minutes later, your second course.

We have high expectations.

Let's cook.

I honestly expect all four of these today to really go for it,

really fight for that semifinal place.

We are in for a humdinger.

I'm challenging myself a little bit today.

I'm actually going to do something I've never done before,

so I hope it works!

Basically, the smile's there, but you don't quite look the same.

Are you for the first time nervous?

Yeah, I am, actually, for the very first time.

It's the dessert that's making me scared.

I've not cooked a dessert like this before.

Tell us what you're going to cook for us.

A rustic French fish stew.

And then I'm going to do my deconstructed rhubarb crumble,

which I do like saying.

Why would you deconstruct a rhubarb crumble?

Clearly, I've got to impress,

and so I've decided to try and make it a bit cleverer,

so I'm going to cook my crumble separately.

I'm doing rhubarb batons,

and then I'm going to try and do quenelles of flavoured mascarpone.

-Get her!

-Never done any of that in my life.

All I'll say is, we love you.

-Oh!

-Just believe in yourself.

-You'll be fine.

-OK, OK. Cheers.

Lesley's food is always very, very tasty.

We have what she's describing as a rustic French fish stew.

Tomato base, potatoes going through there as well.

Lovely big plump scallops.

Big pieces of cod, some prawns there as well.

It could be truly delicious.

My favourite pudding in the world, as you know, is a rhubarb crumble.

Deconstructed, that can work,

as long as you keep all the flavours and textures that make a crumble.

Why not? Why not indeed?

I'm going to cook for an hour and a quarter

and, at the end of that time, there'll be some food.

I just hope it's food that people will enjoy.

This menu is, it's very me

in the sense that, first of all, it's Swedish.

It takes me back to Sweden straight away.

I'm not sure where it'll take John and Gregg.

Hopefully to the right place, to a happy place.

Ulrika, I've watched your face change from day one,

from being really nervous and, suddenly, this big beaming smile.

-You're loving it, aren't you?

-Yeah, I'm just getting into my stride,

-it feels like.

-Great.

What are your two dishes, Ulrika?

I'm doing a Swedish fish stew

and then baked peaches with amaretti.

Listen, there's another fish stew going on.

-I know.

-Leslie is doing a fish stew.

We're in a complete stew, yeah.

Tell me what a Swedish fish stew is.

Lots of fennel, aniseedy, dill kind of flavours.

We have this in the summer in Sweden.

Can you translate for me and tell me what the fish stew

would be in Swedish?

Fiskgryta.

-Fisky gruta?

-Fiskgryta.

Do you want to get on, by any chance?

-Could I?

-You can get on.

Thank you.

It's fish stew a-go-go in here.

Ulrika is cooking for us a Swedish version,

using salmon, cod and prawns.

That could be great, fantastic.

Dessert of baked peach with amaretti biscuits and cream.

It's all to do with the presentation and it's all to do with

how much flavour you can get in that peach.

I'm excited about being here today and I want to do well.

I want to be in the semis.

I actually want to win.

It means that much to me at the moment and I don't know why.

I've never said that before. What's wrong with me?

It's taken over my life, this thing, whatever it is!

I honestly have no idea what it is you're going to make.

You've got a bottle of beer, you've got some radish,

Jerusalem artichokes. What are you making?

I'm making fish, chips, peas and gravy.

The chips are chips and the fish is going to be cod fillet.

I'm going to serve it with a pea puree, smoked artichoke,

Jerusalem artichoke, gravy.

If you were to close your eyes, you should just taste fish and chips.

-Dessert?

-Dessert is two of my favourite desserts put together

and that is lemon meringue and cheesecake.

-Why take two classics...

-Yeah.

-..and twist them about?

Because I think at this stage of the competition, if I was judging it,

I would want to see that somebody was learning,

so I'm applying various techniques that I've learnt.

All we can ask for, Barney, is you get it all done in the time.

Well, I'm definitely up against it.

But if I go out, I'll go out kicking.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Barney's making a smoked artichoke puree as a gravy.

I don't understand.

Gravy doesn't taste of smoke...

..and I've never had a gravy that tastes of an artichoke.

Gravy tastes like gravy.

I admire Barney's adventure, but he's taking on a lot.

Pickling radish...

..frying cod...

..making chips...

pea puree...

..and lemon cheesecake?

That is a lot to get done.

John's Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I am Luke Skywalker and, at the moment,

I'm flying the spaceship and I'm about to do the double-bomb thing

into that big hole.

And he's talking in my ear, saying, "Don't overcook your fish!"

I tried to do something unique or very rare.

John said, "Well, you've given me a plate of food I've never had before."

If I can do that a couple of times through this competition,

I'll be really happy.

You are surrounded by a plethora

of extraordinary and wonderful ingredients.

So I've come up with one completely original dish

and one that's pretty rare.

Go on, enlighten us.

We're starting off with cockle popcorn, which is very English,

very traditional and quite rare.

I stumbled into it in a restaurant.

I literally ran downstairs, grabbed the chef by the lapels and said,

-"How do you make that?"

-What are you serving that with?

It's going to be served with seaweed.

So the main course is what?

So what I've done is taken the squid head and then you end up with

something like a sausage, stuffed with an arancini mix,

which cuts like sushi.

Nick, it sounds fascinating.

Just leave it at that!

First course, we've got the seaweed,

which is pickling and he's also deep-frying,

and he's serving it up with cockle popcorn.

Little bits of cockles inside batter,

all fried and lovely and crispy.

The difficult bit is getting them so they're all individual...

..and they don't all stick together in a big clump.

That main course is really challenging.

To make a risotto perfectly and then put it inside a squid

and then cook the squid so the squid is brilliantly cooked,

but the risotto isn't overcooked...

..that is tough.

These aren't dishes I would order.

However, I am impressed by how ambitious Nick has been.

I just really hope that, technically,

he can achieve what he's set out to do.

I hope that people can differentiate between passion and bonkers,

with people saying, "Oh, yeah, he's really passionate about food.

"That was great." Not, "Oh, he's mad!"

HE LAUGHS

I hope all four of them go into that dining room proud as punch and

deliver faultless food and truly impress our invited guests.

First time I've been back since the final and, as the taxi pulled up,

I had butterflies in my stomach.

Getting very anxious and worried, and then I remembered

I don't have to cook! So I relaxed.

So I'm really looking forward to this!

I remember, at this stage, I think I cooked bream

and I think that went down really well.

Well, this is absolutely delicious.

I can't find fault with it.

If you get through this one,

your confidence really takes a good boost

and it will help you to do well for the rest of the competition.

Today is a really tough day.

Ugh!

I nearly came to a disaster area with what was supposed to be

mini chocolate molten cakes.

It's not oozing, but I've got to pay the girl her dues.

The taste of that chocolate is bang on.

I'm going to try not to be a tough critic,

but if it's really, really awful, my face will tell the story.

It's lovely to be back.

Hello.

This stage of the competition was kind of my turning point.

Oh, yeah. Come on.

I think I defined my sort of style of cooking.

I don't think he could have made this any better.

It's weird. I did this last year as a judge and I was harsher than I