Episode 18 Celebrity MasterChef

Over the last six weeks, 16 celebrities have been battling...

-Ugh!

-..to win the Celebrity MasterChef title.

Now, only three remain and tonight,

one of them will be crowned champion.

I'm glad I've got this far, yeah.

It proves I'm always right!

I'm ready with my magnanimous loser face.

But I don't want to display it.

I'm about to hit my 60th birthday

and I am literally in charge of a new skill.

Janet wants it, Ade wants it and Les wants it. Who's going to get it?

Let's get them in!

For the last time for you three,

welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.

This has been at times difficult, at times hilarious,

but a fantastic competition.

Now, the last time you cook,

one of you is going to cook so well,

you're going to walk off with the MasterChef title.

Cook us wonderful food that we want to indulge in.

Ladies and gentlemen, three courses, two hours...

..let's cook.

My MasterChef journey has been enormous.

I've had points of elation...

-Brilliant!

-Thank you very much.

At your best, you can take on anyone.

..but I've had points where I've wanted to cry and run away.

What the heck is that?

I'm not happy to serve these two.

This could mean failure for the whole dessert.

I've tripped, got up, tripped, got up and I'm still here.

Tripping and getting up.

I wouldn't have swapped it for the world.

It's been great. I've loved it.

Les, your three courses today that are going to take the title are...?

Well, I'm starting with pan seared scallops,

-wrapped in pancetta with a rosemary and anchovy sauce.

-Mm.

Main course is a cannon of lamb and Toulouse sausage cassoulet,

served with polenta -

I've never cooked it before - to serve on the side.

-Dessert is?

-I am making... What is it called?

It's called a verrine of different coloured chocolates,

so the bottom layer is dark chocolate,

then milk chocolate and then on the top,

a really creamy white chocolate and with that,

a Chantilly cream with some of the schnapps in

and also a soft berry compote with the schnapps in.

Well!

-I'll get an extra long spoon out!

-You'll have to go deep.

How good would Les "MasterChef champion" Dennis sound?

I think it would be great.

I could open a restaurant called Chez Dennis.

-I wouldn't!

-No!

No, no, no!

To win it would be amazing and I think you said to me the other day,

which gave me a lot of courage, that at my best,

I can compete with these guys.

These guys are clearly more experienced than me.

I've learned as I've gone throughout this competition.

But it's been great.

I love Les' menu. Love it.

To me, there are ingredients in there and combinations that sing.

If I get this right,

I could be holding that trophy at the end of today.

You should never say "try", always believe that you can do it.

You've had half an hour. That's a quarter of the time gone.

The thing about me is, I'm a combination of huge confidence

and massive insecurity.

So on one level, I thought, "Wow, yeah, I can cook really well!"

And then on another level, I've thought,

"But John and Gregg won't like it."

You've served it like a great big stew.

You're trying to make me serve it like I'm in a restaurant

and I categorically can't do that.

It has been a complete battle of wills. It's driven me mad.

Don't even start gobbing at me, OK? You're running late, now hurry up.

-This dish is the equivalent of building the Eiffel Tower!

-Sshh!

Janet, where are you? You've got two cod on order.

-You need to communicate.

-I'm doing it!

-All right.

I like to do things my way!

-That looks fantastic.

-It's really very good indeed.

I can't believe you've said that!

-That's as good as anything we've had today.

-This is Stockholm syndrome.

This is basically Stockholm. You've given yourself over to Janet!

Hallelujah! You have arrived!

I love them!

You always knew you were going to be in the final three, didn't you?

-Secretly, yes.

-THEY LAUGH

So, with that knowledge, are you going to lift it today?

Are you going to take the title?

Hopefully. I mean, my food's not very compromising.

I've done what I want, but I'm going to serve it your way.

So, your three courses today are...?

They all sum up aspects of my personality.

First course is red and black salad.

That's the two sides of my personality.

Warm, fiery...and black.

Nasty Janet!

It's a salad of red leaves and then in it,

I'm putting some blood oranges

and I'm crumbling black pudding over it and that's the black.

I'm serving on a red plate.

Duck shepherd's pie for the main course.

But because it's a special day and it's for you two,

I'm putting it in a mould and I'm doing it in the middle of the plate.

The dessert is a JSP special.

It's a hot and cold ice cream and it's chopped up chillies

in ice cream and you get hot and cold at the same time.

-Janet?

-Yeah.

-We wish you the very best of luck.

-Do you mean that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-I think you're ace. SHE LAUGHS

Janet's theme today is all about her personality on a plate.

Well, that's great, as long as it delivers.

If I get it all right, I should win.

But, you know, I don't know the workings of their mind.

It's still a mystery to me after all these days.

Make your last ever MasterChef hour a very productive one, please.

When I started the competition,

I didn't realise it was going to be as tough as it's been.

-You're way behind on the lamb.

-I can't go any faster than I'm going.

-Safely.

-Don't you dare drop that!

Just(!)

Go and rustle up some business, Ade.

Evening. This is only for half of the food,

so the salmon and the rabbit are on that side.

For the last month, I have spent every waking

and every sleeping moment thinking about food.

Ade, the culinary term is "boom"!

On the money, absolutely on the money.

Hey!

Look at that!

How cool is that! Beautiful.

You should be very proud of yourself. That's a challenging dish.

-Well done. Really enjoyed it.

-THEY APPLAUD

I woke up this morning and sort of shook Jennifer and said, "Capers."

HE LAUGHS

And she went, "Hmm, no."

And then went back to sleep.

Ade, you've got your serious game face on, mate.

Well, it's the last chance. Feels like the last day of term.

I've brought Kerplunk in!

What are you going to cook for us?

I'm making a seared fillet of venison with a celeriac remoulade.

Then I'm doing a fillet of sea bass, which is

stuffed with a scallop mousse, with a kind of... I feel so poncy!

With a deconstructed ratatouille.

Pudding is kind of strawberries, raspberry sorbet

-and a biscuit with caraway seeds in it.

-Why these three dishes?

Well, because I think they taste nice, I've tasted them all,

and I only really have one taste test and that's my wife,

and she liked them.

-These are all technically challenging.

-Mm.

Yes, I spotted that.

You don't think you might be in danger

of biting off more than you can chew?

No. I had a more complicated menu to begin with

and I had to ditch that because I tried it the other night

and I didn't get through it, by a long margin.

-So it's reduced in complexity.

-Ade, good luck.

-Thank you.

I think I need it.

I do like Ade's menu.

I worry about it because of the amount of work he's given himself

and how technical it is, but I do like it.

You've got to excite them because you can't do anything too simple,

otherwise it's not going to score you points, is it?

We know what points make!

Final five minutes.

That is it. Time's up. Time's up.

Move away from it.

Les, up you come.

-I am so pleased for you.

-Thank you.

I think your food all round looks clean, it looks crisp. Good on you.

Thank you.

Les has made a starter of seared scallops wrapped in pancetta

on a bed of rocket and red chard,

served with a rosemary and anchovy sauce.

I love that rosemary and anchovy sauce. I think that's lovely.

That would be lovely with most fish.

Beautifully cooked scallop,

-but salty bacon and salty anchovies is making it all too salty.

-OK.

You have wonderfully cooked scallops,

you have beautifully crispy edges of bacon

and served alongside a big, strong, punchy sauce. It's brave.

It fills me with joy.

It makes me feel great about what you're trying to achieve.

You are almost there.

Just pull back a little bit on your seasoning and it will be brilliant.

-Let the ingredients speak for themselves.

-OK.

Les' main course is a pan-seared cannon of lamb

with Toulouse sausages and a borlotti bean cassoulet,

served with parmesan-flavoured polenta.

Earthy beans, sweet carrot and woody cabbage.

And then sausage, rich with herbs and strong with garlic.

Altogether, classic combination.

Your polenta, as well cooked as it might be,

what you've probably got to try and do

is put a bit of salt and pepper in it, son.

I tasted it and realised there wasn't enough salt and pepper in.

-You didn't put any in there!

-No.

-It's like eating corn chalk!

I love this sort of dish.

What I am impressed with

is the lightness that you've got in the flavour of those beans.

It's coming from all the amount of veg you've got in there.

It's still got a crunch to it and I think that's really clever.

I would happily munch my way through that

and then need a lay down at the end of it!

Les' dessert is a dark, milk and white chocolate mousse verrine,

served with a soft berry compote and Chantilly schnapps cream.

Now, this just fills me with joyous anticipation.

That starts off sweet and ends almost bitter with dark chocolate.

So any chocolate lover is going to dive into that headfirst, Les.

I'm really, really impressed by that chocolate.

Thank you.

Mmmm!

The three chocolate mousses are very well made

because they are of different texture and of different flavour.

I think that's great. I love that with your berries.

I don't really need cream on it

because I've already got enough cream with my chocolate.

But, you know what, if it satisfies the bald one, brilliant!

Thank you very much. Thanks, guys.

Janet, up you come.

Hello.

I love your food. I love the way you cook. I love what you stand for.

You stuck to your guns all the way through this

and I admire you for it.

For her starter, Janet has made a red and black salad,

with red radicchio, red mustard and red Russian kale leaves,

blood oranges and black pudding,

with a pomegranate and walnut dressing.

I looked at your set of ingredients and I thought, "Can't work."

I love it.

Absolutely love it. Because it shocks me.

Like you do, it makes me sit up and go, "Whoa!"

I think you'll divide the crowd, Janet.

Don't get me wrong, I love it,

because I think it is properly in your face.

Sweet, toasty, nutty, earthy, spicy, finishing with bitter.

I think the whole thing is a really good flavour combination. Very nice.

I'm still not sure about your presentation,

but one thing I am sure of - when I look down, I go,

"Yep, that's a Janet plate."

Well, those flavours, bit like a night out with me, Gregg.

Ends on a clean note.

Janet's main course is duck and goose shepherd's pie,

cooked in thyme and red wine,

and served with Swiss chard and roasted beetroot.

It looks like a smiling Cyclops, which is unnerving in itself!

That woody roasted beetroot

and your beautifully cooked chard are absolutely delicious.

The fragrance of the thyme mixed with that and then

the sweetness of the meat sitting inside the pie, I like that a lot.

My issue, and the only complaint I have got with this dish is your mash.

And your mash, for me, needs to be a bit creamier, a bit more unctuous.

But I'd eat the whole lot.

I love that dish the way it tastes.

I mean, sweet, sticky,

soft meat with a mashed potato top is as good as it gets.

That is a gloriously sticky, indulgent plate of food,

by someone who really loves to cook.

Janet's dessert is rhubarb and crystallised ginger

and a vanilla white chocolate and chilli ice cream.

-It's quite a macho dish.

-Crikey.

I love the balance of the sweetness of that rhubarb with

the warmth of the ginger, and I like the chilli and the ice cream.

Something I've never tried before but it works.

I think it's really, properly delicious.

This is a brain-shaking dessert,

because you just don't know what's coming.

I think that is gloriously original, and genius.

-Absolute genius, because it tastes divine.

-Look, I'm smiling now.

Doesn't happen often. Enjoy it while it lasts!

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Thanks.

Ade, up you come.

I've got to say, the cleanliness

and sharpness of your dishes is truly impressive.

Ade's starter is pan-seared loin of venison with a pepper crust,

served with celeriac remoulade and lamb's lettuce.

It's so clean and so crisp, but it gives us high expectations.

Oh, dear.

There is a nuttiness and a creaminess to that celeriac

and I'm picking up a little bit of herbiness and richness of that meat.

Faultlessly cooked. Very nice dish.

I really love that nuttiness of the celeriac

with the sweetness of the apple and the sharpness of the capers.

I think it's elegantly done, sophisticated and beautifully cooked.

-Thank you.

-A pleasure.

Ade's main is butterflied fillet of sea bass, stuffed with

scallop mousse and served with a deconstructed ratatouille sauce.

Ade, I love that. I love, love, love that.

Look at the sheen on the sauce.

It smells amazing.

That is a stunningly beautiful,

deep flavoured, big snog of a fish.

That is lovely.

I tell you what, Ade, the bass flesh is as soft as you like.

That mousse inside is just enhancing the deep fish flavour of it,

but matched brilliantly by that ratatouille sauce. That is...

..a good enough dish for any table of any restaurant, at any level.

You clever, clever thing.

I love you, Gregg!

Ade, the sauce is fine and velvety, but spicy and fragrant

all in one, and in the centre,

a piece of bass filled with a pillowy-soft, rich scallop mousse

which is as fine as any I've ever tasted.

Honestly? Rocks my world.

I'm gobsmacked. I really am. I'm...

That's bizarre! I feel like I'm blushing. Why would I blush?

Thank you.

Ade's dessert is strawberries in caramel syrup,

topped with a caraway shortbread and raspberry sorbet.

Tastes great. You get sharp,

but still sweet, sorbet.

Then the wonderful crunch of that biscuit with caraway,

a wonderful, wonderful pathfinder to sweeter, softer strawberry.

There's not enough biscuit.

Love the flavours.

I think that raspberry sorbet is beautifully made

and it's silky smooth.

Your biscuits, rich with caraway seed, is a wonderful thing

to warm your palate and at the same time refresh it. Really wonderful.

-I think it's a very, very clever dish.

-Thank you very much.

I don't know about you, but I feel exhilarated by these three

and what they have achieved.

Les was hopeless when he walked in here

and now look what he's achieving.

It surprises me that somebody like Les walks in here

and continues to get better and better and better.

I think he has done a stunning job.

Janet has stayed true to herself

and stayed true to her style throughout the competition.

She is a very, very good cook, John, who is in love with cooking

and feeding people.

That is obvious.

A great cook who understands good, flavoursome food.

What Ade has learned along the way has just enhanced the good cook

that he already was when he walked in here.

I love the look of his dishes.

I love the style, I love the cleanness of them, John,

beautiful simplicity.

Delicious and absolutely mind-blowing.

I was slightly overwhelmed by the response.

I was only just holding it together, to be honest!

It's weird, isn't it, just over a plate of tea!

Um, but, no, it was a stunning response. Absolutely flabbergasted.

I thought they were very nice about my food.

I thought they got the message that I was trying to put across.

I'd like to win, but if I don't win... It's their loss.

That was really a lovely experience.

To have John and Gregg make such lovely comments about my food,

and about my journey, I'm really... I'm elated.

We've guided them,

we know how good they've become, but who takes the title?

Thank you so very much for bringing me so much joy and so much laughter!

All of you have to be congratulated on the effort, the ambition

and the fantastic food.

It has been a hell of a competition, that's for sure.

After much deliberation... We have chosen a winner.

It's Ade.

Ohh! Oh-oh!

APPLAUSE

-Thank you!

-JANET: Well done.

Well done.

HE SIGHS

Thank you so much.

I've learnt to be patient and I've even learnt a little bit

how to be gracious in defeat.

Not that much, though!

I would be a liar if I said I wasn't a tiny bit gutted

that I didn't get to hold the trophy, but there you go.

Well done, Ade.

It's the trophy. It's what I wanted when I came in the first place.

It's fantastic, thank you very much. I've really enjoyed it.

# This is the day your life will surely change

# This is the day when things fall into place. #

I'm very, very chuffed. I've spent most of my life being second!

So, to actually come top, it feels very weird. It feels unusual.

But I'm very, very pleased indeed.

It's quite nice to be first!

YES!

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