Episode 15 Celebrity MasterChef

We've got 16 celebrities battling it out to win the Masterchef crown.

There's a lot of pressure on today.

No-one wants to go out now, we've worked so hard.

These celebrities have already made a name for themselves

in their own professions.

But can they cut it in the kitchen?

It's really important that I get everything 100 percent right.

I'm ready to go for it.

I can't wait to get into that kitchen and start cooking again.

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this!

This week, these three celebrities have been set

the toughest culinary challenges of their lives.

After today, only the best will make it through.

Today is a big day for our three celebs

because at the end of this, one of them is going home.

Time to step it up, otherwise you're going to get booted out.

Welcome back to the Masterchef kitchen.

You are not just presenting your food to me and John.

We have invited three very special judges.

You are cooking for two previous Celebrity Masterchef finalists

and one winner.

Ladies and gentlemen, your two courses.

One hour and 15 minutes.

At the end of this, one of you is going home.

Let's cook!

To impress the judges,

the contestants must cook a two-course meal of their own design.

I remember I was really nervous at this point.

I hope they get it all out on time and that it's a nice plate of food.

Well, I've actually got pretty high expectations.

It's early in the competition, but we may have the winner.

I'm looking for, yeah, something a little bit different.

And just good taste.

Not an easy bunch to please. They've done it and they've been here.

Phil's picked up the title.

They'll know if it's not right.

20 minutes has gone.

I think after a really shaky start,

I've really started picking things up a bit.

The last few days have been incredible.

I'm hoping to show John and Gregg some new skills today.

It's sort of your last chance to make an impact before the big cut.

Very excited about today.

-G'day, Michael, how are you feeling?

-I feel good.

I'm confident with what I'm cooking, I just have to make sure

that I've got the time to cook it in.

What are your two dishes, please?

For my main, I'm going to be doing pan-fried sea bass and chorizo

with curly kale, celeriac puree and a potato fondant.

And the other course?

A Masterchef favourite, chocolate fondant.

But I'm going to do it with an orange mascarpone cream.

Are you aware of how many people have lost their place

in this competition to a chocolate fondant?

I'm hoping I can show you that I have - touch wood -

a fool-proof way of doing it.

How do you feel about the judges today?

It's a lot of pressure.

It will be incredible having these three judging the food.

They've been through it, they know what we're going through.

So I'm hoping it means they'll be a little bit easier on us.

But I also think it means they'll be pretty tough on us.

Chorizo and celeriac puree?

And a fondant potato?

And curly kale?

I'm not sure he's got this right.

Michael's got a big job.

I think Michael's given himself a little bit too much to do.

I'm learning so much in this competition.

If I go through to the next stage, I know I'll learn even more.

I'm feeling really nervous.

Again.

Today makes it even worse because I'm not cooking

just for Gregg and John, but for three guest judges as well.

Rebecca, smile on your face. This is brilliant!

Yeah, it won't be there for long.

Rebecca, you have a huge array of ingredients.

What are you going to cook for us today?

My starter is a pear, walnut and Roquefort salad.

Then a lamb bake with spicy rice,

ginger glazed carrots

and an apricot chutney.

This is actually based on the national dish

of South Africa, babotie. The egg bake that I'm going to put on top

is going to have coconut in it.

This dish, the South African babotie,

it can split the crowd, can't it?

Because it's got egg and it's got spices and it's sweet,

but it's savoury and it's quite unusual.

I have a really sweet tooth and I love savoury foods to be combined

with fruits and a bit of sweetness.

If I can make sure that the flavours are subtle and it's not

too overpowering, that's probably going to be the key thing.

In the last round, when we said you were staying with us,

how did you feel?

It's kind of a bad habit of mine to not be satisfied,

I always want to go that one step more.

I'm really impressed with Rebecca. If her food comes out well today,

I'll be really pleased.

I'm very concerned about this South African dish, this babotie.

Made with lamb, it's also sweet.

I've had it before and really didn't like it at all.

I'm really enjoying the competition.

I'm loving all the different experiences

but I am finding it really quite obsessive and challenging.

I'd love to be able to continue because I'm learning so much.

On the other hand, I might be expected to cook at home

so there's pros and cons.

What are your two dishes?

Pan-fried lamb's liver with bacon,

creamy mash in a wine jus

and then sticky toffee pudding with a pecan sauce.

Sticky toffee pudding, Mr Wallace's favourite.

Mate, your menu sings to my inner depths.

Are you going to do it justice, Diarmuid?

I hope so. I'm going to try, for you.

Perfect. So, liver and bacon, absolute classic.

This dish relies upon the sauce to hold it together, doesn't it?

Yeah, it does.

-Have you made the sauce before?

-Yeah.

-And?

It wasn't great.

How do you feel about sticky toffee pudding, Mr Wallace's favourite?

I love it. I've made it, I would say, about 20 times.

The first time it ever went wrong was

when I tried it at home last night!

-Don't let it go wrong today, mate.

-I'll try my best.

-Good luck.

-Thank you, chef.

Diarmuid has somehow got to bring finesse into what could

otherwise be big, bulky dishes.

We can't have cafe food here.

-You've got nine minutes before your salad goes out.

-OK.

-Going to be on time?

-Yes, starter's going to be on time.

I like the sound of Rebecca's starter. It's a classic combination.

The starter does sound very simple, but simple foods are often the best.

She has to nail that and get the flavour combinations right.

Or else it's just a pear and walnut salad.

Let's take them, let's go.

Bang on time, well done.

It looks decent, but there's no cooking there, is there?

For a starter, you have pear, walnut and Roquefort cheese salad

with a mustard dressing.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

It's exactly what I was expecting.

There's nothing amazing about it, presentation-wise or anything.

You'd have to order about nine of them, wouldn't you, mate?

It's just a nice, well-balanced salad.

It doesn't ring any bells for me, if I'm honest.

It is what it is but it just doesn't seem to me to be quite enough.

I feel disappointed, really.

That, for me, is not great.

This lamb bake had better be very good.

It's a really pretty thing but she's played it very safe here.

Tastes fantastic but so it should do.

But where's the cookery skill?

That's the starters gone. You've now got 15 minutes till the main goes.

Rebecca's main. I'm not quite sure what this lamb bake is.

I like the sound of that.

I've got great hopes for that.

I agree with you, Christine. I don't know what a bake is.

I have no idea. It's like a nice little surprise.

You've got two minutes, you've got to push.

-Come on!

-60 seconds left.

-OK.

-Ready?

-Ready.

So, for your main course, it's called babotie.

It's a lamb bake with a custard egg topping.

We have spicy rice

and apricot chutney

and ginger glazed carrots.

-Enjoy.

-Lovely, thank you.

Oh, dear.

I've encountered it on Masterchef before and John and Gregg hated it.

They hated the combination of the top and the bottom.

I think it smells lovely, it's quite well presented.

It actually looks just like a pie.

First impression, some great smells.

It makes you want to eat it

and you think, "I'm looking forward to this."

The lamb is nice.

Not quite so sure about the topping.

Quite sweet.

But, yeah, it's...OK.

I actually quite like that. I think all the spicing works.

I mean, it's got some kind of nuts in here and raisins and spices.

It's quite pleasant. I think it works for me.

Knowing that it would be slightly sweet on top, I'm prepared for it.

Honestly, I like it.

I'm giving babotie the thumbs up.

It's a very strange combination.

But I think it's well cooked, it's well executed

and it's well thought out.

It is weird, but I actually really like it.

I had one before and hated it.

This one, I really like.

I think I performed to the best of my ability at the moment.

I think I definitely have got more to give.

I've got somewhere to go, that's a given.

And I'd like to be able to get there and see what I've got.

-You've got five minutes.

-Yep.

Michael's main, I love all the elements of the dish.

I'm just not sure how it's going to work together.

My absolute favourite fish of all time is sea bass,

so I'm really looking forward to this.

Michael, don't let me down!

One and a half minutes left.

It's looking good, mate. It's looking professional.

Is that the last bit?

-Right then, guys, that's the main course done.

-Well, get it out!

Hi, guys.

Today for the main course,

I'm serving you pan-fried sea bass with chorizo.

We have some potato fondant, some curly kale and a celeriac puree.

-I hope you enjoy it, guys.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I think the plate looks quite pretty, actually.

He's obviously thought about his presentation.

I really like the fish.

If you're being ultra-critical, you could say it's slightly over-cooked.

But I like the flavours and it's seasoned well.

The celeriac puree is actually cold but it's quite tasty.

I'm perfectly happy with that as a plate of food.

I think I would have liked the bass a little more lightly cooked.

But you get the crunchy bits.

Michael's given himself loads of work to do

with this fish main course.

He filleted the fish himself, fondants, purees.

And, actually, he's achieved the whole lot.

And presented it beautifully.

-Mmm.

-And it tastes good.

-I love it. I absolutely love it.

I said it wouldn't work, I was wrong. That fish is marvellous.

Crispy on the outside, really soft and flaky.

Even his fondant is cooked beautifully. Love it.

Love it, love it.

You've got 12 minutes, now, to get your pudding out.

Right, that's not great.

They said when we were here was that there's a curse

on the chocolate fondant, everyone that tried to do it always failed.

I think at this stage of the competition, to try this now,

a great main could be spoilt by a bland cooking fondant.

You've got just over three minutes. Where are your fondants?

The fondants are in. It's going to be close, I won't lie to you.

-Two minutes on your fondants, three to serve.

-That's right.

You're bang on time, what are you worried about?

Your time's up.

-No, no. They're still wet.

-Only a tiny bit, though. Like, this close!

Yeah, yeah.

Go in there, tell them you're going to be a few minutes late

and tell them why.

-All right.

-All right?

-Yep.

Hey, guys. Minor apology. We're going to have a delay.

It'll be here. Thanks for your patience. Apologies again.

That's not good!

He'll have been under pressure out there, won't he? Poor man.

Yeah! Are we ready?

I don't understand why these aren't coming out of the things.

Come on. Out you come. Hey-hey! Michael, all right?

I feel awful and embarrassed and I feel like I'm one of those

idiots on Masterchef that tried the chocolate fondant

and it catches them out. I did chocolate fondants!

Hey, eventually for you guys,

I've produced a chocolate fondant with an orange mascarpone cream.

Please enjoy it, you're probably starving.

Oh, for God's sake! I had an absolute nightmare. Timing.

I am so livid with myself about it, as well,

cos it's just a matter of a few minutes either side.

And I knew it.

Now it's probably undercooked.

Oh, look. He's nailed it there. Very happy for him.

That's a good effort.

Mmm.

It's wonderful. It's just gloriously chocolatey,

the orange is just a flavour made in heaven.

-I love it, it's absolutely fabulous.

-I think the orange is lovely.

It's very subtle in there, isn't it? It doesn't overpower the cream.

It's just nicely there in the background.

I think all of it compliments each other really well.

Beautiful. My favourite dish of the day, by a mile. Absolutely gorgeous.

Woah, not bad. Nice runny inside to your fondant.

As far as a fondant goes, Michael's cooked his fondant very, very well.

It's got a runny centre, a nice crispy outside.

-It's a really well-cooked fondant.

-It's as light as a feather.

It's as good as you like.

15 minutes left. How are you getting on?

I'm getting on brilliant. I'm super.

Diarmuid's main, the lamb's liver, I'm really looking forward to that.

Yeah, as soon as I saw that,

I thought that was a bit of you, that, Phil.

Lamb's liver, I would never, ever, in a million years choose it. Ever.

So you've got three minutes left on your main course.

Is your pudding in the oven, Diarmuid?

No, it's ready to go in.

-How long do the puddings take?

-They take 22 minutes.

Wow. That's a big dish, isn't it?

It's got to go out in about a minute.

-Done?

-I'm done.

-Let's go.

I hope you're hungry!

It's pan-fried lamb's liver with streaky bacon, a creamed mash,

caramelised onion, in a wine jus.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you!

I really hope it's nice!

It doesn't look like it's going to be, if I'm honest.

I don't think that this plate of liver is going to change my view.

I think it's just going to confirm it.

Oh, dear.

The bacon has not been cooked properly, it's fatty and horrible.

The liver is overcooked.

The onions look like they've been given ten seconds in a microwave

and the mash is cold, with a jus which is just not there.

It's terrible.

You were looking forward to that, as well, weren't you, mate?

I was so looking forward to this and I can't help but feel...just gutted.

There isn't a single element of the dish that works. That's the trouble.

-Nothing.

-That's hurt me, that.

Let's hope that the sticky toffee pudding lives up to expectations.

The onions aren't caramelised, the sauce isn't quite thick enough,

and the whole thing's a bit lumpy.

A bit, sort of, greasy spoon cafe-esque.

Liver is slightly chewy, that sauce is too thin.

It's not cooked out enough.

It's acting like someone's just poured a glass of wine over the top.

You've got 15 minutes.

And those puddings, how long are they going to take?

22 minutes, chef.

We're going to be late before we even think about plating.

It's not a great start, is it?

Sticky toffee pudding, in theory you can't go wrong.

But again, it's an absolute classic.

My favourite. I actually did this when I was on Masterchef as well.

So, we shall see how that goes.

Mate, they're rising. They're rising, you're OK.

It needs another five minutes, at least.

-Are you going to tell them?

-Yeah.

-Go on then, chef.

-What will I say?

-Well, tell them the truth, OK? Just tell them the truth.

Hi! Erm, pudding will be delayed by five or seven minutes.

-Right, chef. They're coming out.

-Hurray!

You're ten minutes over.

-Aaagh!

-Serve it. You're going to have to serve it.

Brilliant.

15 minutes over, we're finally going to put it out.

Apologies for the delay.

It's a sticky toffee pudding in a pecan sauce, with some cream on top.

Thank you.

It's intensely sweet and sticky, like it should be.

-It's nice and pecan-y, it's nice and toffee-y.

-It tastes nice.

The sweetness, the cream, the sauce, it works together nicely.

But there's...not enough.

I've actually got no sauce, pretty much.

I mean, what I've just tasted of it here is really nice,

but you've got to have the sauce.

I've got to have some kind of moisture on it.

The sponge is lovely and light,

I like the pecan nuts running through the sauce, I like the bit of cream.

It is really sweet and really sticky.

In my opinion, what a sticky toffee pudding should be.

There's no way a sticky toffee pudding should be 15 minutes late.

No way.

It's difficult. It just goes to pieces under the time pressure.

Three celebrities, battling out for their place in Celebrity Masterchef.

But today, we've seen real improvement.

No one better than Michael.

I though his sea bass dish was great, really good.

I loved the celeriac puree, I loved the fondant potato,

The fish was beautiful.

His chocolate fondant was very well made.

Michael really shone today.

The cooking was outstanding.

If I stay in this competition, it would be incredible.

Course it would. It would be immense!

So, Michael's in.

Which means we have to choose between Rebecca and Diarmuid.

Rebecca's first course, of the salad of pear,

with that nice little dressing, was a tasty salad.

But it was a salad. Not much cooking, not a huge amount of skill.

Most of the effort went into that South African dish of mince

with egg on top, flavoured with coconut.

Bobotie. It's a very unusual dish.

I didn't mind it, but it was a really unusual thing to do.

I don't really know what that tells us about Rebecca.

If I went through today, it would mean a massive amount.

To get through to the next stage of the competition would be a really proud moment.

Our guest judges really didn't like Diarmuid's main course.

Delivery on the liver was a little bit off.

The onions needed a little bit more caramelisation.

The red wine sauce wasn't made properly.

The red wine wasn't cooked out of it, and it wasn't thick enough.

The sticky toffee pudding was actually fine.

It was sweet, it was sticky, it was soft

and that's exactly what the pudding should be.

But, is it actually forgivable for Diarmuid to be

15 minutes late on his pudding?

If I do make it, I'd be absolutely overjoyed.

That would be my first reaction. And then I'd worry like hell.

Decision time. Who stays, who goes?

Two of you are going to line up with the final eight.

One of you, unfortunately, is going home.

The person leaving us is...

Diarmuid.

It's been absolutely brilliant. Thank you very much.

I feel relieved. I'm glad it's over.

It was fantastic.

I absolutely loved every moment of it.

It's tough, but I learnt a huge amount.

I think it really begins to get relentless after this.

Michael, Rebecca, you're in the last eight!

I feel amazing, I feel brilliant, I feel elated.

It's just such a good result, which shows the hard work's

really paid off.

I'm so shocked. I really am. I can't believe this.

To get halfway through the competition and be in the top eight.

It's fantastic.

Next week, the pressure is on for four new celebrities...

Oh, I can't even look at it!

-..to become Masterchef champion...

-Wahey!

..they'll have to prove they've got what it takes.

I need to light this, if it's the last thing I do.

Amazing!

That is nasty.

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