BBC Celebrity MasterChef star Vito Coppola was left emotional and in floods of tears after finishing his two-hour shift at a professional restaurant and cooking for guests during the lunchtime rush.
After successfully managing to get through the pairs challenge with OJ Borg, it was time to head off for their first taste of life as professional chefs – with Coppola and Borg remaining in their team.
The pair were sent to Supawan which serves traditional Thai cuisine inspired by owner and head chef Wichet Khongpoon – with the pair having to buckle up and maintain focus if they hope to do this week’s chef mentors proud.
Introducing them to the restaurant, Khongpoon expressed: “We have a lot of people coming today, so let’s go to the kitchen and see what we can do. You need to laugh a lot in the kitchen, but I am quite strict when it comes to producing food because it has got to be precise.”
Coppola was given two dishes to prepare during his time in the kitchen – Khonpoon’s signature chicken wings stuffed with Thai-spiced prawn and chicken mousse served alongside an aubergine larb – a Thai-spiced grilled aubergine salad.
Khongpoon added: “You need to prepare these two dishes at the same time… so the timing, it has to be very precise. Chicken wings is one of the standout dishes, I just love the complexities of the flavours and it’s so labour intensive.”
Watching on, Coppola quipped: “This is going to be very very spicy, we love chilli. I am very very excited, and I’m very, very focused. So I will channel all my energy, you know, and I want to really do my best, I promise. I have never done any of this before.”
As service kicked off, Coppola quickly found his feet and was able to whip up the two dishes as they came rolling into the kitchen, and praising himself: “I am doing quite well, I think, I hope…”
“I am finding it so exciting, so interesting! Honestly, I’m having so much fun, wow!”
With their two-hour stint coming to an end, Coppola wiped down his station and became overwhelmed with emotion, bursting into tears and explaining: “Thank you so much! We’ve done it!
“I really loved this thank you. I found this amazing, I just love it when people do things with love. Sorry, it is happiness tears, so good, thank you! You are amazing! This is an experience guys! Wow!”
Fans of the star were left touched by his emotion, and took to their X accounts to praise his skills, with one noting: “Vito is so full of energy and so positive lol gotta love him!”
“I just love Vito so much! You can see how much he really loves this show and the passion he has for everything just shines through!” another added.
“Vito for the win please!” a third added before someone else expressed: “Never seen Vito before but I have to say he is infectious! What a gem he is!”
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A fifth user praised: “Love Vito on Strictly for his passion and pure heart of dancing… turns out he has that in everyday life! He smashed that challenge and truly hope he wins!”
Someone else wrote: “VITO FOR THE WIN! He better not go cos he has smashed that!” (sic)
