Highlights 1 Celebrity MasterChef

16 celebrities are battling it out

to win the coveted MasterChef crown.

I want to go all the way.

I want to get to the final. I want to win.

These celebrities have already reached the top of their progression.

But can they cut it in the kitchen?

To win MasterChef would be absolutely amazing.

I dream every single night about food.

I think MasterChef has turned me into a nutter.

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this.

All this week,

these four celebrities have taken on the challenge

to become the next MasterChef Champion.

I would absolutely love to win MasterChef,

but I think it would be like... pie in the sky! Excuse the pun!

I'm quite a competitive person. Obviously, I want to win it.

So, yes, I'm quite scared.

For me to win, that would be like me winning the lottery.

Now that I'm here, I'm kind of like,

"Oh, my gosh. What have I got myself into?"

They've had their basic skills put to the test.

You haven't filleted the fish.

You've dissected it, like a biology lesson.

I'm so sorry.

HE GRUNTS

They've had to cope with the demands of mass catering...

I'm not happy sending them out like that.

We need to see what it's like underneath, see if we can save it.

This is not Pentonville Prison!

These people haven't done anything wrong!

They've been given the opportunity to cook their own creations.

What is the basis of the soup? What is it?

Water.

Never before in my life have I had

spaghetti, toast and mashed potato all together.

Neither have I!

DARREN LAUGHS

NICK: That was horrible!

But one of them had to go.

The celebrity leaving the competition is...

MUSIC: "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol

..Darren. Sorry, Darren.

I'd have loved to have gone further and learnt a lot more,

but, you know, for me, it's the end of a journey.

There's no more I could've done.

MUSIC: "Chasing Cars" By Snow Patrol

I'm shocked! Like, really shocked!

I'd never have thought I'd get through the first round of MasterChef. What an achievement!

I'm over the moon. It means a lot to get through that initial phase

and, hopefully, go through in the next round, as well.

I'm absolutely thrilled to still be here.

I can't believe it. I really can't.

I'm going to grab it by both horns now.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

It's 9:00am,

and Linda, Michelle and Nick

are heading to cook in their first professional service.

Looking forward to going to a restaurant and being a chef for the day.

I'm on board the honey wagon here with the girls!

I'm excited about the restaurant. I'm really looking forward to it.

I promise I'm not going to cry.

I'm extremely nervous because I know that it's going to be high, high pressure.

This is a culinary baptism of fire.

Today they face the white-hot heat of a restaurant kitchen.

I hope they've got their gloves on.

They've been sent to Redhook in London's Farringdon district,

which specialises in seafood and steak.

For them, it's an experience. For us, it'll give us an insight

as to whether they can actually cope with the pressure of this competition.

-Hi. Good morning, guys.

-Morning.

-My name is Jose.

-Morning, Jose.

-I'll be your head chef for the day.

You'll be cooking for our customers. We've got a busy service.

-Make your way to the kitchen and we can crack on.

-Thank you.

Former model Linda Lusardi is cooking a starter

of seared pan-fried scallops with chorizo,

red pepper and parsley oil.

You don't want to deep-fry them. You want to pan-fry them.

Grab your scallop, don't throw it, nice and gently into the pan.

-A bit of butter. Can you see it all getting nice, golden?

-Yes.

You flip the scallops over. Look at that. Look at them beauties.

Last minute, you just want a touch of lemon juice.

The lemon juice is doing two things, you're adding flavour into it

and stopping the heat so they stop cooking.

I'm a bit mind-boggled at the moment.

I am nervous, because you're serving to the public. It's important it's right.

You want to get it right for the chef and for yourself.

Entrepreneur and former model Michelle

has been put in charge of the rib-eye steak,

with hand-cut chips and bearnaise sauce.

Before service, you have to cut all of these down to portions,

300 grams each.

-So two...

-Two fingers.

-Perfect!

-I might have no fingers left!

-You'll be fine.

This is what you'll be doing. Let it get a nice colour.

-Let's pretend it's been there for two minutes.

-For what, medium?

Yes. The rule of meat is,

if you cook it for two minutes, you rest it for four minutes.

So double the time you cook it, you rest it.

-How hot is it in here?!

-It's not hot.

-Ohh!

I have never in my life done anything like this.

The pressure is on.

That's hot.

If you can't stand the heat, get out the kitchen!

Hollyoaks actor Nick is cooking pan-fried lemon sole

with a citrus, tomato and basil sauce.

-It's a lovely dish. If you don't do it properly, it can be a horrible dish.

-OK.

We dust the fish in flour.

That hits the pan.

You will start seeing around here,

it will start getting bit brown.

That's when you know your fish has got a nice golden colour.

Tilt the pan.

When you're flipping that over,

if the fish snaps into pieces, I'm sorry, but that's a no.

I won't be cocky!

It's quite daunting. Jose's just shown me how to do my fish.

I hope that there won't be too many spoils and spillages.

There's two hours till service.

Michelle first has to prepare two bags of potatoes for her chips.

One potato, two potato, three potato, more!

I feel as if I've been peeling potatoes for hours!

No more bingo wings!

Linda's begun shelling 100 scallops.

I've just opened my first scallop ever in my life.

It's going OK. I don't think I'm doing it wrong.

I won't be adding anything else to this dish.

The Lusardi-isms are staying at home! I'm going to do it exactly as I was shown.

Meanwhile, Nick's got the tricky job of filleting his lemon sole.

It nearly went swimming!

Can you show me how to do this fish again?

Start from the back

-to the head.

-Right.

When it doesn't work, you have to try to rescue it.

-Right, Chef. Thank you.

-That's all right, mate.

There's now only 40 minutes till service.

I'm hoping I'm on schedule, but I'm not too sure, to be honest!

I'm a bit out of my league.

It should be all right.

All right on the night!

Michelle's only just started prepping her steak.

-Michelle, how are we doing with our meat?

-Fine, Chef.

We need to crack on with that. You really need to step up the game. Everyone needs to step up the game.

The heat is on. The pressure's on!

And Linda's still working on 100 scallops.

I'm not sure if there's 100 here. If he's given me them all or...

I've lost count now! One, two, three, four, five.

We've got 20 minutes and...

-I know, I need to get the peppers in.

-Yes.

-The peppers aren't in the oven yet?

-No. You said -

-Get them in now.

Get them in the oven quickly, yes?

All right, guys, let's speed up a little bit more

because you are behind!

-Oi, everyone! Hello!

-HE CLAPS HIS HANDS

Oi! When I talk, I want to hear people answer me.

If I say something, I want to hear "yes, no, maybe".

ALL: Yes, Chef.

-There's so much to do.

-Michelle!

-Yes, Chef?

-How are we doing on them steaks?

-Almost there, Chef!

Good, good. Keep going.

MICHELLE SCREAMS

What's wrong? What happened?

Let me see. Let me see. Let me see. Put your hand up.

STAMMERS

Come, come, get out of the kitchen.

-SHE WAILS

-It's nothing. It's not that bad.

You're in my hands. You're in safe hands. Don't worry.

I don't know how bad her cut was, I didn't see it,

but I know she's very distressed and upset.

I just hope it can be patched up so she can carry on today.

She'll be gutted if she doesn't get to do her service.

Upstairs, the first customers are starting to arrive.

Right, guys, we've got five minutes for service!

You're back! Well done! Are you OK?

I almost took the tip of my finger off. I'm feeling a nervous wreck,

but I think because I'm just in so much pain.

But it's fine. I'm determined I'm going to continue.

We've got the first order. One seared scallop, two rib-eye -

-Yes, Chef!

-Bearnaise sauce, please.

Linda's the first to be called into action with a single order of scallops.

Linda with the scallops,

I'll be well disappointed if she overcooks it.

It's a very, very simple dish to do.

Yes, yes.

-Very good. They're done lovely. They're perfect.

-Thank you.

-Really good.

Let's go, let's go, let's go!

I had the scallops and chorizo.

Very tasty. The scallops were cooked very nicely.

It was very good.

I've done one good one, so there's no reason they can't all be like that.

One prawn, one scallop to follow, two rib-eye!

Michelle and the beef...

I would say that's the easiest from the whole lot.

The key thing is getting it all together on time.

A huge big bit of meat

just came flipping off of that right into my cheek.

I'm having a bad day!

Come on, Michelle, let's go, let's go!

Get them out. We need to get them faster.

Chips are coming up, Chef.

I need the chips!

-I need the chips!

-Coming, Chef! Yes, Chef!

One plate.

Service!

My finger's full of blood, and painful.

But no blood will go on the food. It's fine!

A cut finger and a burnt nose!

One prawn, one scallop to follow, one sole!

Nick's got the sole, a tricky dish.

You have to get the cooking right. You have to get the nice colour.

You overcook it, it goes dry. You don't want to be eating a piece of fish dry.

Er, nah! Get rid of that! I don't want to see it.

Get rid of it. Get rid of the pan. Get rid of the whole lot.

I messed up the fish. I hadn't floured it properly and it stuck to the pan.

He wouldn't let it go out. They'll have to take that off my wages!

It's midway through service

and the restaurant's packed.

Loads of cheques on the pass!

I need some food up here, please!

Linda's got three orders on.

Scallops are very popular today, so I have got quite a run on.

We need to speed up a bit more, guys.

It's been eight minutes for scallops. It's a bit long.

It's on its way!

Oh, my sleeves keep pushing it.

-Can I have another plate?

-I really need three scallops right now -

-They're coming now, Chef!

-They're getting cold over there.

-Just cleaning up!

Get them over here.

-Let's make sure these plates are clean. They're very messy.

-Yes, Chef!

I need a little bit more golden colour on these scallops.

Sorry, Chef.

It is hard to get it all done at the same time.

You can't make things cook quicker, and they're shouting for it and it's not ready.

Seven steak on order. All of them medium rare.

I'm coping OK. High pressure, though. But I'm fine.

-Two rib-eye, medium rare, now, please.

-Yes, Chef.

Come on, let's get the other steaks. Get the other steaks! Dress everything altogether.

Let's go, Michelle. We need to really speed up.

This isn't medium rare. Get it longer in the grill.

Another two minutes. Quickly, please.

We've got sole here getting cold and overcooked.

How is it?

Yes.

-Here.

-Service!

Seven steaks came in all at once. So pretty full on!

Four sole on order, Nick!

This time, Nick's determined to get his fish right.

-Look at that!

-Happy with that?

-Yes.

-Make you feel good?

-Yep.

Get it in the oven.

We've got a few fish on the go now, yes.

Lovely colour on that fish, Nick.

Lovely. Come on, let's move it. Let's go.

Three minutes, Chef.

Very, very pleased with that. I think you've done well.

-Thank you, Chef, appreciate that.

-Cool. Go. Service.

I ordered the sole and it was absolutely delicious.

Really fat and juicy and cooked just so.

As service draws to a close, Linda's finding her stride.

I must say, Linda, lovely scallops.

-Thank you, Chef.

-You're welcome.

Two steak now.

-Yes, Chef.

-Thank you.

And Michelle's turning out perfect steaks.

Here, Chef.

Good. They look great.

I ordered my steak medium rare. It's cooked perfectly. Tastes great.

The wine's good, the chips are good. It's all good.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, that's our last courses for the day.

Thank you very much. Well done, everyone. Go. Table 25. Thank you.

It's over.

-Well done, guys.

-MICHELLE: Oh, God!

Service was OK.

Linda, she surprised me.

All through the service, she had two dishes,

the colour on them wasn't great.

I told her and it was sorted.

I've never cooked anything under that kind of pressure before.

The dishes went out, I didn't burn any.

I couldn't be happier with what I've done, really.

Michelle... I think she was panicking a little bit.

I think she could do a lot better if she didn't panic so much.

A bit unfortunate that I almost took my finger off,

but, erm, I didn't give up.

Nick mucked one up. I told him.

He literally got rid of it. Another one on the go.

Cooked the fish perfectly. He done well. He's good.

I had to throw one, so I wasn't too happy with that.

Apart from that, I did have a good day.

I'm feeling good.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

A gruelling service is over.

But the celebrities now face another challenge...

To cook chef Jose Azevedo's signature dish -

wine and crab tagliatelle with lime.

They will have to perfectly balance the white wine, chilli

and garlic sauce.

It's very easy to cook. Very easy to get it wrong, as well.

Overcook the pasta, too much of one ingredient,

that will just kill the whole thing.

If I show you how to roll the pasta.

You've got to make sure it's dusted in flour.

Go on and on, like this, until you bring it down to number two.

All right, guys. Half an hour from now,

I want to be tasting a lovely crab tagliatelle from each one of you.

I've never made my own pasta. Never used a pasta machine before.

I just hope mine goes to plan.

Hey, hey! We have tagliatelle!

That looks brilliant!

Oh! Shouldn't have put that in yet.

I put the coriander in too early, I think.

I think that's probably done.

I think the tagliatelle's too thick and a little bit rubbery.

Too late to go back now, unfortunately.

Phew! Done.

It's a bit dry. Lack of seasoning.

It looks like you put the herbs in a bit early.

They've lost their colour a bit. Apart from that, the flavours are there.

The pasta is cooked perfectly, al dente.

The crab has been put in at the right time.

-Well done. Thank you very much.

-Thank you. Really enjoyed today.

Thanks for having us.

It was very nerve-racking cooking Chef's dish.

I feel I probably got six out of ten.

Could be worse. Could be better.

I've never made pasta before.

I had to pretend once in Hollyoaks, but that's about as far as I got.

It won't go through!

I now know why I buy it in a packet.

That was a laugh.

I don't know if it's overcooked or undercooked, to be fair. But we'll see.

I'm not feeling great about it. The presentation's all right.

I'd eat it, looking like that.

The flavour's there.

The only thing that let you down is lack of seasoning

and the lime.

The lime just helps bring in the flavours, freshen them up.

-Thank you very much. Well done.

-Cheers. See you later.

-Thank you.

Even though I had 20 minutes, which is plenty of time,

you just start panicking and forgetting things.

Seasoning, Nick!

But hey, hey, never mind.

Oh, my finger!

It's very important for me to get this right.

I don't want to look like a fool.

My sauce is on and I'm now making my pasta.

Oh! It's coming out!

Yes!

Yep.

I tried my best.

The lime is missing on it.

And seasoning, as well, is missing on it.

I did cut the lime. How did I miss that?!

The pasta's good. It's nice and al dente.

The presentation of it, fantastic.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much. Cheers.

It wasn't perfect, but I'm happy with it.

My biggest problem is, I panic,

and that's bad.

I don't understand. I never panic in business.

I don't understand why I'm panicking in the kitchen.

I think this possibly is the hardest day we've done so far.

I've achieved a lot for myself and I am quite proud of what I've done.

Everything has been tough, so I don't expect it to get easier.

In fact, I think it's going to get harder!

We'll just have to see how it goes. I'll keep trying my best. That's all I can do.

I've never been through so much drama in one day.

I don't think ever!

I've not thrown in the towel yet. I'm still here,

fighting another day and looking forward to tomorrow.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

Next time, the battle for a place in the semi-finals

reaches its climax...

-One minute.

-You're using up my time!

How's that lamb?

..as the celebrities face the harshest of critics...

Three little slivers of mushroom. That's really mean!

..and find out their fate.

The first person to leave us is...

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