The first celebrity has been given their marching orders by the judges on TV3's Celebrity Masterchef.
Spoiler alert!
Model Holly Carpenter has become the first celebrity to get the chop in Heat 1 of the cooking show after her cod bake left a bad taste in the judges' mouths.
The show got off to a start on TV3 on Monday night with weather forecaster Evelyn Cusack, Carpenter, Eurovision winner and singer Niamh Kavanagh, Executive Director of Amnesty Ireland Colm O’Gorman, and retired GAA footballer Oisin McConville all donning MasterChef aprons.
Holly: You're codding me
However, judges, Michelin star chef, Daniel Clifford and Dublin-born chef, Robin Gill, were left unimpressed with Carpenter's early efforts in the kitchen.
Although she showed great ambition and even managed to impress Robin and Daniel with her first task - a Malteser cheesecake - her second dish, a recreation of Daniel’s baked cod with herb crust, fell flat.
Holly failed to reduce her sauce, resulting in both Daniel and Robyn swallowing a mouthful of vinegar.
Upon seeing the judge’s reactions, a shocked Holly said: “Why can’t . . . why aren’t you breathing?”
Colm O'Gorman lives to cook another day
To which Daniel replied: “That’s just pure vinegar. Has that been reduced? I’m really not trying to upset you but if you look at everyone else’s plates, their chives have stayed green because the acid in the vinegar has turned your chives that colour.”
Accepting that something went wrong, Holly said: “I think I need to look up words like ‘reduce’ and all of that in the cooking terms. In terms of how I cook, I don’t know the names of things I’m doing, so maybe I thought I reduced it and I actually obviously hadn’t.”
Evelyn: a sunny outlook on Celebrity Masterchef
Meanwhile, the real surprise of Heat 1 was former footballer Oisin McConville. Despite admitting to only taking up cooking just weeks before appearing on the show, both his steak and fish dishes were perfectly cooked, and both Robin and Daniel had nothing but praise to heap on the Armagh man.
Met Eireann weather reporter Evelyn Cusack proved a strong contender in the kitchen alongside Colm O’Gorman, with both looking very much like the two leading cooks of Heat 1.
Oisin McConville enjoyed a high score from the judges
Singer Niamh Kavanagh found herself receiving plenty of constructive criticism with Daniel saying her food “needed to sing”.
Celebrity MasterChef returns next Monday at 10.00pm on TV3 with Heat 2, where the second set of celebrities; retired athlete Sonia O’Sullivan, singer and actress Samantha Mumba, model and TV personality Nadia Forde, actor Simon Delaney, and singer songwriter Mundy, will try to impress the judges.
