Celebrity MasterChef finalists discuss their biggest fears ahead of grand finale

By Alex Green, PA Acting Deputy Entertainment Editor

Celebrity MasterChef finalists Danny Jones, Lisa Snowdon and Melanie Blatt have spoken of their hopes and fears ahead of the grand finale on Thursday night.

Twenty contestants have been whittled down to three over six weeks of cookery challenges and eliminations.

The final will see them present a three-course meal in two hours that will be judged by Gregg Wallace and John Torode, in a bid to win the coveted MasterChef title.

McFly singer Jones (36) said: “At the final you’ve got nothing to lose, I wanted to make everything taste, look and be presented as good as I practised it so that I made a good impression of myself as a finalist.

“My biggest fear was to get my lamb perfectly cooked.”

Jones also reflected on becoming friends with the other contestants, saying: “The last six or seven became really close as we were a smaller group and we were going through the same experience in terms of the pressure, and we supported each other and helped each other.

“If one of us were worried about something we’d help them out, so it was quite nice having that. Some nice healthy competition.”

#ICYMI: Oh, @kittyscottclaus. We call this a croquemb-ouch. 🙈🙈🙈
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— MasterChef UK 🍴 (@MasterChefUK) September 21, 2022

TV presenter Snowdon (50) said she was most fearful of “the jeopardy of cooking duck” during the final.

She added: “I’d previously cooked [Irish chef] Anna Haugh’s dish, which was duck and waffle. I got it out of the oven and cut it straight away – it didn’t have time to rest.

“That was a big learning curve, so I said to myself, ‘If I get through to the final I’m going to cook duck’.

“I knew all eyes would be on me and that Gregg would be like, ‘Really? You’re going to do that again when you messed it up before?’”

Pop singer Blatt, who was a member of All Saints, was also asked about her fears for the final, and replied: “Everything – absolutely everything.”

The 47-year-old said her highlight of the series had been when Dame Mary Berry made a surprise appearance during the semi-finals stage.

This year’s cohort of famous names also included former boxing champion Chris Eubank, TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher, former pro-footballer Jimmy Bullard and actor Ryan Thomas.

The final of Celebrity MasterChef airs on BBC One on Thursday at 8.30pm