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MasterChef UK viewers fuming at judges’ reaction to contestant who didn’t, er, cook!

Isn't it meant to be a cooking competition?!

MasterChef UK viewers were up in arms last night (March 1) after an early elimination decision by hosts Gregg Wallace and John Torode.

The new series of MasterChef kicked off last night and saw five amateur cooks enter the kitchen to battle it out for a place in the quarter-finals.

However, an early choice from Gregg and John proved controversial with those watching at home.

ross on masterchef
Viewers were less than impressed with Ross’ crab tian last night (Credit: BBC)

What happened on MasterChef UK last night?

Scottish businessman Ross, 57, came under fire when he presented his dish, a crabmeat tian – which host Gregg quickly pointed out didn’t require any cooking.

The voiceover stated: “Ross’s tian includes a layer of brown crabmeat tomato, capers and shallots topped with lemon avocado and chilli white crab with crème fraîche.”

Read more: Viewers are less than impressed with Gregg Wallace’s new travel show

Upon serving the dish to the judges, Gregg signalled his “slight disappointment”.

Gregg said: “My slight disappointment is there’s no cooking, but it does taste really really good.”

John added: “There’s not a lot of actual texture, it needs a crisp bread or something with it. But tomatoes, crab and avocado tastes pretty good.”

The dish saw Ross sail through the first round eliminations, at the expense of Dominique and her lamb dish, which she did actually cook.

Gregg Wallace
Gregg Wallace pointed out the dish didn’t require any cooking (Credit: BBC)

What did MasterChef viewers say about Gregg and John’s decision?

It’s fair to say viewers were less than impressed at the judges’ decision.

“How did they send a Dominique home when Ross did NO cooking in his second dish??!” said one.

Read more: John Torode reveals he piles on a stone during MasterChef filming

“The bloke didn’t even cook anything? Robbed Dominique #Masterchef,” another added.

“Why’s Dominique going home? The other didn’t even cook, he just put crab in a plate,” they said.

crab tian masterchef
Gregg did admit the dish was tasty (Credit: BBC)

‘When you come on a cooking competition and don’t cook anything’

Others were equally perturbed.

“Ross didn’t doing much ‘cooking’,” another stated.

Another pointed out: “When you come on a cooking competition and don’t cook anything…”

My slight disappointment is there’s no cooking, but it does taste really really good.

“I’m sorry #MasterChefUK, but how can someone who didnt ‘cook’ anything – they assembled ingredients – go through when another contestant actually ‘cooked’ her food?

“It is a ‘cooking’ competition after all!” they added.

“I don’t think Ross has an oven/hob at home #masterchef,” said another.

“Nah surely Ross should’ve been eliminated?” another added.

John Torode
Gregg and John didn’t put Ross through to the quarter-final (Credit: BBC)

What happened at the end of MasterChef UK last night?

At the end of last night’s show, viewers got their wish when it came to Ross.

While some thought he was lucky to survive the first elimination, his time did come to an end when he was booted off the series at the end of the show.

Gregg and John were tasked with the job of selecting just two quarter-finalists.

And, unfortunately for Ross, he wasn’t one of them.

Tom and Madeeha – an early favourite with viewers for her huge portions – were chosen to go through to the next stage.

Poster

MasterChef continues Wednesday (March 3) at 9pm on BBC One.

Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and tell us if the right person went home.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor