THIS WEEK’S CHOICE
John Torode and Gregg Wallace return to discover which celebrities have the palate and skill to chop, slice and sizzle their way to the iconic Celebrity MasterChef trophy.
The first five celebrities to compete in the 2020 heats are recording artist Myles Stephenson, Apprentice star and entrepreneur Thomas Skinner, comedian Judi Love, football legend John Barnes and Death In Paradise actor Shyko Amos.
After an individual challenge to devise and cook one dish to show the judges their potential, the five celebrities are split into two groups to take on the challenge of cooking for the first time in a restaurant kitchen for paying customers. John, Myles and Judi head to Allegra to serve up modern British dishes, while Thomas and Shyko are sent to Yeni, which showcases Turkish cuisine.
Then in the final test of culinary creativity, it’s back to the MasterChef kitchen as the contestants are asked to prepare a dish of their own design in just one hour. The celebrities work furiously in a last attempt to prove themselves to the judges, because, at the end of this test, one of them will be going home.
The show contines on Friday with two episodes at 7.30pm and 8.30pm before more heats next week.
“They act like celebrities when they first walk in, but I promise you, after round one, they’re no longer celebrities, they’re contestants. They think they can ‘showbiz’ their way through it and then they realise they’re seriously going to succeed or fail by the quality of their cookery – and so the glamour just falls away. What you’re left with is hardworking MasterChef contestants, and I like that metamorphosis in them.”