BBC Celebrity MasterChef fans were left unhappy with one segment during the latest episode of the series and claimed the pairs challenge was a “waste of time”.
As the remaining four celebrities entered the kitchen, Emma Thynn and Tamer Hassan were separated from Jake Quickenden and Jamie Macdonald and made into the red team and the blue team.
Wondering what Gregg Wallace and John Torode had in store for them, the latter explained: “So we have split you into two teams, red team, Emma and Tamer, and blue team Jake and Jamie.
“Each team is going to be tasked with cooking a dish, two portions of that dish and those two portions need to be identical. They need to taste the same and they need to look the same.
“But only one person on each team has the recipe. For you to be able to succeed in this challenge, you are going to have to work as a team and you are going to have to communicate.”
The pairs had just one hour to create two identical dishes, however, fans of the show all had the same complaint with the segment and took to their X accounts to air their grievances.
One slammed: “The Pairs Challenge. Also known as ‘waste of time, turn it off’.”
“Pointless task,” another simply penned before a third agreed: “The pairs challenge is hard tbh find it a bit pointless too…”
“What is the point of this round #CelebrityMasterChef,” a fourth slammed before someone else said: “I really don’t understand the point of this challenge, it doesn’t give them any skills.”
However, not all agreed with the negativity towards the challenge, as one praised: “I love this challenge! Show’s they can effectively communicate with one another and listen to instructions.”
After managing to get through the challenge unscathed, Quickenden and MacDonald were first to share their spiced quail dish with Torode and Wallace, leaving them both stunned by how similar they had got their dishes.
Tasting MacDonald’s dish first, Wallace expressed: “Your bird is cooked really well, there is nice, pink, juicy flesh under there, and despite the incorrect method of making your Yassa sauce, that is properly sharp and peppery, I think that is great!”
Torode agreed: “I love the fact that your crisps are lovely and crispy, and the quail is cooked really really nicely, good job Jamie, you followed along really well.”
Tasting Quickenden’s, Wallace praised: “Jake I think you really need to be proud of yourself because that is a really good dish, and not only that, but you managed to give really good instructions to your mate, I am loving these two dishes boys I have to say.”
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“The flavours on your quail are absolutely fantastic, the fact that they look the same and they taste the same means that you actually worked as a team and listened to each other,” Torode said.
Feeling overwhelmed, Quickenden replied: “I didn’t want to let Jamie down, don’t, because I will cry – for me, he is an incredible guy and I think he has got more chance of going further in the competition than I have.”
Thynn and Hassan were up next with their jerk chicken dish and left Torode to comment on Hassan’s: “Your chicken ace. It is great, the edges are all lovely and crispy, and there is a flavour of allspice and thyme in there.”
Moving on to Thynn, Wallace expressed: “The chicken, you have used slightly more chilli in yours than Tamer’s but they are very very similar. Your dumplings are superb, they are doughy, that is how they are supposed to be, you have a crust on the outside of it.
“There were times where I thought ‘this is going to fall over in a minute’, so well done to the pair of you.”
