Celebrity MasterChef 2025 has lost its first finalist as Finals Week got underway with a tense opening episode – so who went home?
The five remaining celebrities were pushed hard as they faced a tough double challenge, first producing a perfect afternoon tea before moving on to create a show-stopping dish of their own. With both sweet and savoury skills under scrutiny, there was no hiding place for mistakes.
Despite some impressive cooking, one contestant failed to fully deliver on the brief. Small errors proved costly and the judges ultimately decided they had done the least to earn a place in the next round.
As a result, the first finalist was sent home, leaving just four celebrities still in the running for the Celebrity MasterChef 2025 crown.
Celebrity MasterChef Finals Week: Cherish Fiden
Finals Week got off to a really tough start. Finalists Alfie Boe, Alun Wyn Jones, Dawn O’Porter, Jamie Lomas and Ginger Johnson were whisked off to Wedgwood pottery in Stoke-on-Trent.
There, they were introduced to Cherish Finden – a world leading pastry chef – and challenged with creating an afternoon tea. But there was a catch.
The contestants had to use Cherish’s own recipes for the individual elements of the afternoon tea. And they had to be PERFECT when it came to precision.
Cherish warned them that precision was “key”. She added: “Good is not good enough. I am telling you, you are not the celebrities today. You are my chefs. Do not disappoint me. I am the boss in the kitchen.”
Rugby ace Alun Wyn had to make Cherish’s take on coronation chicken. He was horrified to discover incredibly specific measurements in his recipe such as ‘7.8 grams’ and ‘0.5mm sq’.
Singer Alfie had to create an interesting prawn sandwich in a charcoal bun. Dawn, an author, had to make a pavlova that was “lifted to the next level”. It even featured a “set raspberry gel mirror”!
Jamie, meanwhile, made a very delicate lemon drizzle cake with a shortbread base. He had to cover it in glaze and syrup, but he split his lemon curd. Cherish was not impressed. Oops.
Finally, Ginger finished off the afternoon tea with a Mango and Matcha Chocolate Teapot. It’s fair to say they all found Cherish’s very high standards very difficult to meet!
Cherish even ended up deep breathing with Alfie as his nerves took over… But despite the immense pressure, they all managed to pull off their dishes.
MasterChef Showstoppers
The five finalists returned to the Celebrity MasterChef kitchen in the second half of the show. They were given two hours to create a “performance” packed with ‘showbiz” glam.
“They need to pull out all the tricks here,” John said. “It needs to be fun, it needs to be a showstopper.”
Jamie dressed as a pirate and made a Treasure Island-themed showstopper. He served spiced tempura prawn popcorn in a treasure chest, crushed nacho sand, shark fins from seaweed and star-shaped tomatoes in lime.
Dawn created a six-course tasting menu, which was based on a ‘novel’ she wrote especially called Six Shades of Orange. Her dishes included kumquat, egg yolk and spinach ravioli, orange and chilli deep fried chicken and a cheese fondue. She finished with an orange pastry pudding.
Alfie made a sea bream dish filled with salmon mousse and covered in crispy potatoes as “fish scales” He served it with a caviar and Champagne sauce. Alfie brought tears to John and Grace’s eyes by singing as he served it up.
Alun Wyn’s dish represented ‘In Search of Merlin’. He made chocolate and cherry ganache, green sponge cake to represent ‘moss’ and even edible beards – made from candy floss!
Finally, Ginger’s showstopper was made to celebrate Celebrity MasterChef’s 20th birthday. The drag artist served up champagne sponge cake, chilli-spiced Marghitrita lolly sticks, sherbet dip and Pina Colda jelly and ice cream. It was “full” of alcohol.
Who left Celebrity MasterChef tonight?
Celebrity MasterChef 2025 said goodbye to its first finalist tonight as Jamie was eliminated during the opening episode of Finals Week.
The pressure was on as the five remaining celebrities were challenged to create an afternoon tea before delivering a personal showstopper. But Jamie’s ambitious Treasure Island dish failed to convince the judges.
While he was cooking, Grace Dent admitted she was confused by his approach, noting that although the idea was “weird and wonderful”, there didn’t seem to be much actual cooking going on. Tasting the finished dish, she praised his gold-sprayed prawns but said much of the plate felt “rough and ready”. She added that he had “lost the magic of nachos” by crushing them into sand.
John Torode was also unconvinced, criticising Jamie’s tortilla breads and describing them as “hard”.
After announcing his elimination, Grace thanked the Hollyoaks actor for his time in the competition. She encouraged him to keep cooking. Jamie took the decision graciously, admitting it was bittersweet but saying he was proud no one could take away the fact he reached the finals.
Celebrity MasterChef continues tomorrow on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at the earlier time of 8pm. The remaining four finalists face the dreaded Chef’s Table as another celebrity prepares to bow out.
Celebrity MasterChef continues at 8pm tomorrow on BBC One and iPlayer.
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know if you’re happy over who went home tonight from Celebrity MasterChef?