Craig Doyle makes surprise BBC Celebrity MasterChef confession as he admits ‘I didn’t care’
Presenter Craig Doyle has made a surprise confession about his time on Celebrity MasterChef and admitted that he previously “didn’t care” whether John Torode or Gregg Wallace liked a certain dish he made.
Since the beginning of August, 20 famous faces walked into the MasterChef kitchen with the hopes of being crowned the 2024 champion – with just Doyle, Rochenda Sandall and Vito Coppola fighting for the title.
During tonight’s final, the stars will cook and present two courses for judges Torode and Wallace, giving it their all for the last chance to prove they have what it takes by delivering on every front.
Torode and Gregg with their toughest decision yet as crowning who they think deserves to win the competition will come down to the highest standards they have seen throughout the series.
Doyle has had a tricky ride through the series after he managed to mix up salt for sugar on two separate occasions – however, Wallace and Torode saw potential in the TV presenter.
The star recently opened up on what his high point of the series was and explained: “The first time I walked into the iconic kitchen, it was like stepping into the television – loved it.
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“Then cooking a meal from my memories of me Dad, liver and onions. I didn’t care if the lads liked it or not, I was just so happy to do something to remember my Dad who loved cooking and would have been so proud of me cooking on the show.”
Discussing who he thought was his biggest competition and sharing his fears for the final, he added: “Both of them, Rochenda is brave and creative and classy when she cooks.
“Vito does proper Italian home cooking so well. It’s like his Nonna is on his shoulder guiding him. They are fantastic! Everything needs to be perfect. I rarely get it all right and my menu has so much in it, so many elements and different skills and techniques required. It’s my biggest challenge yet.
“I have always used cooking as a way of escaping stress and my own head when things get too busy in there. I have terrible problems focusing and concentrating, but in the kitchen, I go into a really calm happy place.
“Opening that place up to judgment and criticism makes me nervous.”
On Thursday night, Doyle was walking on thin ice during the first challenge after he managed to mix up salt for sugar, and left Torode and Wallace unable to eat the dish he had created for them.
He decided to dedicate his dish to his wife and children and whipped up a brûléed lemon curd tart with meringues and lemon curd-filled raspberries, basil and candied mint.
However, when presenting the dish to the judges, he immediately came clean and admitted: “Before you tuck in, I had an issue at the end. I couldn’t understand why the sugar wasn’t brĂ»lĂ©eing… I put salt on it.”
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After admitting they couldn’t eat most of the dish, Torode extended his sympathies and said: “I’m sad for you because you’ve ‘assaulted’ your tart, but you’ve done a huge amount of work and it is probably the best-looking plate you’ve made in the competition so far.”
Wallace also tried to focus on the positive: “Those sharp raspberries with the little sharpness of the lemon curd with a bit of basil is beautiful. Well thought-out, well-designed, elegant, incredibly yummy sweet dish… With a sprinkle of salt.”
