Episode 30 Celebrity MasterChef

Celebrity MasterChef - The Final.

And what an extraordinary competition it has been.

Three extraordinary finalists.

They have to do one thing, and that is cook without fault.

Today is the day for the MasterChef Champion to step forward.

I came into this competition

knowing that I was an OK cook.

All along, my skills and techniques have never really

been called into question.

Hey-hey!

Danny...

not a bad job.

That, for me,

is exceptional.

That's grown-up cooking, Danny.

The beef is cooked brilliantly.

Back of the net!

Getting the flavour combinations has been a bigger problem.

There are so many sweet things on that plate,

I can't taste the beauty of the pigeon.

-It's risotto meets rice pudding.

-I knew you liked puddings.

Yeah, not with a cuttlefish.

For me, the flavour's really confused.

I feel like I'm eating a dessert, but I've got meat in it.

It's been tough.

Been a long road.

They're too soft.

You need to be quicker, you're holding everybody else up!

It's getting warm in here.

Plaster, please.

'I learnt so much.'

That looks beautiful, Danny!

Very good.

Delicious.

Good cooking.

Very impressed.

'It's been thoroughly enjoyable.

'I will take away

'such great experiences, great memories.

'To get to the final'

is a big achievement,

but most importantly, I've proved to myself that I can actually cook.

And that is what I set out to do in the first place.

I never imagined in a million years the amount of pressure

that MasterChef would be.

What is that?!

If I drop this,

I'm literally going to punch myself in the face.

Argh!

There have been days

where I've felt ecstatic.

That is heart-thumping stuff.

It's delightful.

It looks like a real restaurant dish.

Two words - "oh" and "wow".

This is amazing.

Great!

Dah-dah!

-It's perfect.

-Did Chef say it was perfect?

Get me!

When I think about all the ups and downs I've had...

One chicken.

Chicken. Yes, Chef!

..and then I think about where I'm at today,

it's all been worth it.

It really has all been worth it.

Perfect.

Beautiful. As good as the one we'd have served here.

Thank you very much, Chef!

I think that yoghurt sorbet

is amazing!

It's absolutely beautiful.

You've got something special.

Always knew you did, and today, for me, you've proved it.

I would absolutely love to be MasterChef Champion.

It would just be amazing!

The competition, it's been very

up and down. It has.

This sauce is a nightmare,

because if it's too hot, it splits.

Argh!

He's just poked the handle off of it!

That vanilla essence is now making it taste like soap.

Your jelly hasn't set, Michael.

And in the bottom of that glass,

we have soup.

Ah!

Argh!

-Oh, no!

-It's slightly hot, but it's fine!

It's a crumble, not a rhubarb swamp!

Now I've made it to the end, I'm a much better cook

-than I was before.

-Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Mate, very, very impressive.

HE SIGHS

I'm really, really impressed.

Oh, brilliant. Thanks, Chef.

I love it.

It's absolutely fabulous.

That's very, very good.

To think that this was an amateur that cooked this...

Amazing! Really fantastic.

If I won MasterChef,

it would be right up there. But both of these competitors

are not going to make it easy for me, at all.

Now only three plates separate you

from the Celebrity MasterChef title.

Your three courses,

two hours.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook.

You've got to put into this last challenge

everything you've learned.

All the hard work to get to this point

now comes down to three plates.

Danny's first dish of smoked duck,

which he's smoking himself,

with pear and vanilla puree...

..and then a marmalade made from chicory...

..I think is a sensational idea.

My concern is that he's smoking his own duck breast.

If he goes too far, John, it will taste like a lump of charcoal.

The main thing that could go wrong with my starter

is if I get the smoking on the duck wrong.

There's a very, very fine line

between getting this right...

His main course -

sea-reared trout.

He's serving that with aubergine puree,

flavoured with truffle oil,

and a red pepper and tomato sauce.

Will that sea-reared trout be able to stand up

to those big flavours?

That's a big ask.

For dessert, chocolate fondant.

It's got to be turned out and runny in the centre.

That guy does not do things by halves.

Not happy to just give us a chocolate fondant,

which we would love,

he's trying for shortbread biscuits.

He's also going to make an orange sorbet.

Winning would be a great achievement.

My family would be very proud.

If I produce my food

as well as I possibly can,

I think I'll have a decent chance

of winning this.

Finalists, you have had 40 minutes!

I've got to go off like the clappers.

I have so much to do, it's verging on ridiculous.

Let me say right now,

I LOVE Emma's food!

She has got a ravioli.

Inside, there's ricotta, peas,

mint, in a bacon-flavoured butter.

That is speaking to my inner depths.

What's next?

Make the pasta!

'I'm making pasta today,'

for the first time.

I've taken risks all the way through this competition,

and because it's the final, I don't intend to stop.

She's got to be careful

that she can make the ravioli thin enough

to be delectable...

..and thick enough to hold it, and it has to be sealed, or it'll get waterlogged.

Ravioli, they can blow apart,

and the dish can be flawed.

For the main course,

she is cooking turbot.

Beautiful fish. Difficult to cook.

Underneath, vegetables inside leeks.

Those leeks have to be almost falling apart...

..or it's going to be like chewing on a raw onion.

I've got to say, it sounds elegant.

It sounds sophisticated, it sounds exciting.

And she's serving that with a classic beurre blanc.

Buttery sauce.

Get in there, Emma. That is beautiful, beautiful!

Beurre blanc sauce is a classic sauce.

If you get that wrong,

John'll come down on me like a ton of bricks.

I'm not going to get it wrong.

Emma's dessert - beautiful floating islands.

Little poached meringues, sitting in vanilla custard...

..with praline on top.

Those floating islands are difficult.

If you undercook them, inside is just

raw, tinny egg white.

Done properly,

they are beautiful.

This is who I am, and if you like that, make me the champ.

If you don't like that, then don't.

45 minutes left.

This one challenge

is going to be the make-or-break.

If you absolutely knock it out of the park,

you stand a chance of winning.

If you mess it up, you definitely don't.

We've always said that Michael cooks food

that people want to eat,

and today, his menu - boom!

Mackerel -

rich, oily fish,

served with a spiciness of beetroot.

And then the richness and heat

from that horseradish.

Absolutely fantastic.

I think the main jeopardy point is the fish.

Just lose my concentration, I could overcook that easily...

..and that would ruin the dish.

Main course, we've got a lamb,

carrot puree.

Serving on potatoes

rich with truffle oil.

Fantastic!

Michael's got half a saddle of lamb,

and he's filled it up with apricots and spinach.

Then he's wrapping in caul fat,

so the whole thing is held together

in this wonderful fat outside casing.

Michael, you're playing with some big, big flavours here.

He's got to make sure that not one of those flavours,

especially the truffle, is overpowering.

For dessert, we have a souffle,

with bananas and passion fruit - the taste of the tropics.

John, a souffle,

I think is brave, brave, brave.

But banana is heavy and sticky.

It's not easy to make that souffle light enough to rise.

You've got to be a very, very good pastry cook indeed.

How often do you get to the MasterChef final?

Go big or go home!

Guys, you've got 13 minutes.

Unlucky for some.

Come on, guys, you've got to push it. Come on.

Oh, wow!

-HE LAUGHS

-Love you!

Ten seconds. Last ten seconds.

Time's up, you're done.

You're finished.

Michael, you're first. Come on up.

Michael's starter is pan-fried mackerel

on a bed of horseradish puree,

with red and yellow beetroot.

I love it!

HE LAUGHS

I absolutely love it.

The heat from the horseradish,

then the strength of the oily fish,

and then the sweet earthiness of the beetroot -

it's a beautiful combination,

and you have pulled it off with aplomb.

That's delicious.

But what I love more than anything

is the sweetness of your red beetroot

against the earthiness of that raw, yellow beetroot.

It looks beautiful and it tastes beautiful.

Michael's main course is saddle of lamb,

stuffed with apricots and spinach,

with braised baby leeks,

carrot puree

and truffle mash.

Great, great flavours. Love the sweetness of apricot,

and the carrot, earthy sweetness.

Love the lamb - it's really soft,

but I don't pick up any truffle

in your mashed potato.

And that fat is too thick and needs some more cooking.

I really like the sweet carrot puree

with the richness of the lamb,

but at the same time, the sharpness of the leeks,

and that wonderful, creamy mashed potato.

That fat surrounding the outside of that lamb

is the only issue I've got.

For his dessert, Michael's made

a banana and passion fruit souffle.

I am so impressed with your souffle.

The texture of it

is pillowishly light,

but still sweet and sticky, and the whole thing has body.

I get the fragrance of the passion fruit, but the big flavour in there

is that wonderful richness of banana.

That, technically,

is absolutely spot-on.

It's a perfectly light,

moist souffle

that is bursting full of tropical flavour.

That is absolutely fantastic!

Thank you very much.

'I can't tell you how pleased I am.

'Not quite three perfect plates,

'but I think pretty much two perfect plates.'

The souffle was a winner!

Come on! The souffle was a winner!

Oh, it was brilliant.

HE SIGHS

Emma, come on up.

I'm looking down at three plates of food

which would grace the tables of any restaurant.

They look fantastic.

Emma's starter is pea, mint and ricotta ravioli,

with pancetta butter and pea shoots.

That makes me very happy.

Very, very happy.

Light pasta,

salty from pancetta.

Then, wallop! Sweet pea,

fresh mint.

It's just lovely!

It's as close as your mouth is going to get

to walking through a spring garden.

It's stunning!

Every single element of that ravioli is perfect.

The pasta is wonderfully thin,

the filling voluptuous,

but sweet and vibrant.

It tastes beautiful,

it looks beautiful.

It's beautifully executed. Bang-on!

Thank you.

Emma's main course

is pan-fried turbot,

topped with samphire,

with vegetable-filled leek cannelloni,

crushed roast potatoes,

and a beurre blanc sauce.

Your fish is beautifully firm, but falling apart

in your mouth.

The texture of potatoes is buttery, lovely.

I love the leeks and the freshness of the vegetables inside.

Everything is beautifully, beautifully cooked.

I mean, with the real touch of an expert.

I think it's sweet, it's sharp, it's sour.

And it's got the earthiness from that wonderful piece of turbot.

In that little precious leek cannelloni,

fine dice of courgettes, shallots,

and leek, and then some herbs inside, as well.

Yes.

Clever!

Clever!

Emma's made a dessert

of ile flottante -

poached meringue in creme anglaise,

with almond praline topping

and shortbread biscuits.

I love the fact that your egg white is poached so perfectly,

it has a texture to it,

but it's still as light as a feather,

and all it does is it's picked up that wonderful, rich vanilla custard.

The crunch of the praline on top with the almonds

is wonderful.

It is really very, very good indeed.

And you've got it absolutely spot-on.

Shoot me now, I'll go to heaven.

SHE LAUGHS

Creamy, sweet,

rich, indulgent, light.

Perfect. That is so light, that little island in there,

but it's finished with a little sugar crust

and some almonds.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Thank you very much.

'I feel really great.

'I feel as if I've done myself proud today,'

and that's all I can do.

Danny, let's taste your food.

Danny's starter is smoked duck breast,

with pear and vanilla puree,

chicory,

and a chicory marmalade.

Beautiful pot of chicory marmalade.

It's sharp, it's bitter

but, at the same time, sweet.

Then suddenly, in comes

the iron of your smoked duck.

That, for me,

is a sensation and a flavour

I really like.

Thank you.

It's a sweet dish,

but the almost bitter smokiness of that duck

is a lovely match against all that sweetness.

It scared me.

Really scared me.

But really very, very nice indeed.

Danny's main course

is sea-reared trout

on aubergine puree,

with tomatoes, crushed potatoes,

and a tomato and pepper sauce.

The aubergine with the potatoes,

the sweet tomato

and the smokiness of that pepper,

I really, really like.

Bit it's the oiliness of that fish

that I'm finding really hard

with the other rich, quite bold and smoky flavours.

OK.

Admire the work. Everything cooked beautifully.

It's the combination I'm finding difficult to cope with.

I love the delicacy of the fish

with a little bit of sweetness of the peppers.

I love the smoky aubergine puree,

I really, really do.

Those flavours, I find complimentary

and very new. I like it.

For his dessert, Danny's made chocolate fondant,

with an orange sorbet

and rosemary and almond shortbread.

HE LAUGHS

There you are.

Nice chocolate fondant. Firmer texture on the outside,

nice and soggy in the middle. Good.

But what is actually

making my palate dance

is orange sorbet,

flavoured with star anise

on a rosemary shortbread biscuit.

That is stunning!

That chocolate - rich, but not too rich -

going with the liquorice flavour of star anise,

and then the rosemary,

which is like antiseptic on your tongue,

and numbing your palate - love it!

-Thanks, Danny.

-Thank you.

'I think that went better than expected. I always knew'

there was a massive risk strategy

in where I was going with my food today.

It was either going to be "love it" or "hate it".

I think, in the main, they seemed to love it.

We've got a lot of talking to do, obviously.

We've got a big decision to make. For the last time, off you go.

We'll get you back in when we've made a decision. Thank you.

It's not going to be easy.

It's over!

SHE LAUGHS

-Well done.

-Congratulations, people.

-GREGG:

-What a fantastic final.

Brilliant contestants, fantastic plates of food.

-Blimey, that was intense at the end.

-Yeah.

JOHN: Our three had huge ambition, and it was matched

by the delivery.

What they all

individually achieved today,

I think was brilliant.

The mackerel dish, for me, was Michael's star.

That wonderful red beetroot,

that wonderful spice coming from the horseradish,

and the creaminess against that oily fish.

It was a great, great dish.

His lamb, he hadn't rendered down the fat.

It detracted from the actual beauty of the dish.

His souffle, that was brilliant.

Bringing tropical fruits

into a French classic. John, it was great.

I'm so proud of what I've done today.

I'm SO proud of it that no matter what happens,

I'm going to go home with a big smile on my face.

Emma cooked brilliant food today.

First course - ravioli

were just perfectly made.

It was just heaven! It was heaven!

That fish went so well

with that wonderful, sharp, acidic, buttery sauce.

For me, it was a great balancing act.

Absolutely brilliant!

Her dessert! Mate -

heavenly, heavenly!

That's bowl-lickingly gorgeous, that dessert.

Anyone could take the title today.

Any one of us. I don't think you can put a paper between us.

Danny went for it today in a way I never expected.

The first course

was always going to be provocative,

but I thought it was a great, great dish.

Main course of that beautifully-cooked fish,

with the smokiness and the creaminess of that aubergine.

Tasted good. I liked it.

It was well-executed

but, for me, that centrepiece didn't go with the rest of the bits

-around the outside.

-The dessert was just divine.

That chocolate fondant,

with the orange and star anise sorbet,

I thought the dessert was brilliant.

Knowing that I've produced what I wanted to produce,

I'm happy with what I've done.

Now it's just fingers crossed,

and hope for the best.

You can't but stand back and admire

Danny's bravery, and his ability

to make his food thought-provoking.

Emma's journey on MasterChef

has been nothing short of incredible.

She has propelled herself to absolute greatness

through sheer tenacity.

Michael has got skill, imagination,

heart and soul by the bucketful.

For me,

there is one worthy candidate for this trophy.

One person

who has just pushed themselves

SO hard.

One champion.

I have nothing but respect for you three.

The best finals of MasterChef

are when people put their all into it,

and you guys have done just that.

Our Celebrity MasterChef Champion

is...

..Emma.

-Oh, my darling!

-Well done!

-Oh!

-Congratulations.

-Absolutely brilliant.

SHE CRIES

BOTH: Thank you.

It was always going to be a tough decision.

Every single one of us has done fantastically well.

Of course, disappointed, but had a great time.

And good luck to Emma.

Obviously disappointed to not have won myself,

but I am thrilled for Emma. It's well deserved.

I'm over the moon for her.

Unbelievable!

-That's for you.

-Thank you!

Thank you so much. Thank you, John. Thank you.

This is the first trophy I've ever won,

and what a trophy to win!

There's been blood, sweat and burns have gone into this.

Emma is producing dishes now

that are as good as many professionals.

The skill, the touch, the finesse,

-the flavours.

-She is unbelievable.

My mother is going to scream

for about three months without stopping.

We'll probably have to have her sedated!

This ranks up there in one of the all-time life achievements.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

Wow!

MUSIC: "Set Fire To The Rain" by Adele

# When I lay with you I could stay there

# Close my eyes for you

# Here forever

# You and me together

# Nothing gets better

# Cos there's a side to you

# That I never knew, never knew

# All the things you'd say... #

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd