MasterChef’s John Torode was ‘nearly poisoned’ when a contestant accidentally swapped sugar for salt in episode two of the hit cooking show.
Scottish hopeful Peter was sadly sent packing when, instead of caramelising his carrots, he coated them in salt.
Judge John pulled a comedic face of distress after tasting the vegetable, then said: ‘Whoa. What’s the acidic heat on the carrots?’
A confused Peter, 49, replied: ‘Er, there was none. That was just butter and sugar.’
Breaking the news to the IT consultant, John revealed: ‘I think you may have mistaken the sugar for salt.’
MasterChef’s John Torode was ‘nearly poisoned’ when a contestant accidentally swapped sugar for salt in episode two of the hit cooking show
Scottish hopeful Peter was sadly sent packing when, instead of caramelising his carrots, Peter coated them in salt
John pulled a comedic face of distress after tasting the vegetable, then said: ‘Whoa. What’s the acidic heat on the carrots?’
Co-host Gregg Wallace, who tried the carrots despite John’s reaction, confirmed: ‘Yeah, you have.’
Peter rolled his eyes in disbelief and John added: ‘The fish actually is cooked quite nicely. ‘
Gregg, 49, added salt to his wound with a further criticism: ‘That sauce is not working. It’s far too acidic and it’s got tons and tons of chilli in it. It’s too harsh.’
Afterwards, in the confessionals, Peter admitted: ‘Nerves really got the better of me with that dish there.’
‘They say it’s not over until the fat lady sings, but I can hear her in the distance.
It comes after Jerome, a contestant in Peter’s Heat 1, put vinegar in his dessert – but still progressed to the next stage.
When Peter was sent home, he said: ‘I feel disappointed I can’t hide that. I nearly poisoned John and Gregg with salt rather than sugar.’
Before his appearance, Peter revealed why he had applied to the programme.
He said: ‘After watching MasterChef for years and developing my cooking skills, I always thought about entering the competition but never had the courage.
It comes after Jerome, a contestant in Peter’s Heat 1, put vinegar in his dessert – but still progressed to the next stage
Peter was part of Heat 2, completed by, left to right: Jerome, Rana, Sidney, Louise, and Olivia on the far right
‘After posting some of my dishes online, friends and family used to comment on how good they looked, then one day an old friend messaged me out the blue with the link to the MasterChef 2024 applications, and the rest is history.
He added: ‘My earliest cooking memory is learning to make lasagne and several Italian dishes with my father. I’m not too sure there was a recipe that he followed, but it tasted good!
‘Growing up, my family weren’t big foodies, but the food we ate was comforting, things like mince and tatties, or stew, and every so often a recipe would be noted from a cooking show and then attempted in the kitchen, which was a treat.’
MasterChef is airing its twentieth series and the judges have hinted that the anniversary will see the hardest culinary trials yet.
John revealed: ‘Michel (Roux Jr.) allowed our contestants to do a service at Le Gavroche before that historic restaurant closed. It’s an incredible thing to say.’
Gregg added: ‘We are putting the cooks through the most extraordinary challenges we’ve ever seen.’
And the judging duo have no plans to stop despite reaching the anniversary milestone, saying: ‘It’s a great year, but there’s going to be many, many more great years to come.’
Three episodes of MasterChef will be released every Monday on BBC iPlayer and air every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on BBC One for a total of eight weeks.
This is the twentieth series of Masterchef but John and Gregg have no plans to stop, saying: ‘It’s a great year, but there’s going to be many, many more great years to come’