Vito Coppola pays touching tribute to fellow BBC Celebrity MasterChef finalists ahead of finale

Celebrity MasterChef star Vito Coppola has paid a heartfelt tribute to his fellow finalists – Rochenda Sandall and Craig Doyle – as the trio will battle it out tonight during the final.

Over the last few weeks, 20 famous faces started the battle to become Celebrity MasterChef Champion 2024 and now only three remain.

The finalists will cook and present two courses, a main and dessert, for judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace, giving it their all for the last chance to prove they have what it takes by delivering on every front, including creativity, technique, taste and presentation.

Standards will be through the roof, leaving Torode and Gregg with their toughest decision yet – crowning who they think deserves to win the competition.

Coppola has had an incredible journey throughout his time on the show and has even become emotional at times due to how proud he was of himself for being in some stressful environments and pulling out some restaurant worthy dishes.

Discussing who he thinks will be his biggest competition in the final three, he explained: “Honestly, I didn’t even expect to be one of the Final Three. I just feel so happy – words cannot describe it.

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It all comes down to this. Three finalists. Two courses. One winner.

The Final of #CelebrityMasterChef starts tonight at 9pm on BBC One and #iPlayer#MasterChefUK@RochendaSandall #CraigDoyle @Vito__Coppola pic.twitter.com/Evh5FxPwsn

— MasterChef UK 🍴 (@MasterChefUK) September 20, 2024

“Since the beginning, MasterChef has been a competition with myself. I always felt that the others were better than me, that’s why I am just super grateful to be here.

“Craig and Rochenda are just amazing and when I look at their dishes my jaw is literally on the floor. They are both such fantastic cooks and the way they present the dishes is just wow! I am just super happy and lucky to have the pleasure to be in the Final Three with them!”

Touching on what the biggest thing he’s learnt thanks to Celebrity MasterChef, the Italian dancer added: ” Celebrity MasterChef has been one of the best experiences of my life and I will always be grateful.

“Thanks to MasterChef I have gotten to know myself better. I have experimented and discovered new sides of me. It pushed me completely out of my comfort zone and brought me much more confidence.

“Food is for me the biggest pleasure in life, but MasterChef is not just about cooking. It’s a proper experience and travel, where I had the possibility to discover myself, test myself, challenge myself and mostly be proud of myself.

“I will forever be thankful to MasterChef for giving me the possibility to appreciate and learn to love myself more.”

During last night’s challenge, the team were asked to create a dish which was inspired by someone close to them, with the 31-year-old taking inspiration from his late grandad.

He created an Italian pastiera, sweet shortcrust pastry filled with orange-lemon ricotta and puffed wheat baked custard, served with both a lemon and an orange creme patisserie.

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It didn’t take a lot for Torode and Wallace to agree that Coppola would be making it through to the final, after they were both blown away and had nothing but compliments about his dish.

After finding out he had made it to the final, the star said: “I would love to have this MasterChef infinity, endless, forever. I’m just loving it so much!”