Channel 5 News apologises for revealing Celebrity MasterChef winner
Channel 5 News has issued an apology after mistakenly revealing the winner of Celebrity MasterChef before the programme had been broadcast on the BBC.
The first Christmas special of the competitive cooking show saw the comedian Judi Love crowned the festive champion and winning one of two golden whisk trophies up for grabs this year.
In the episode, the TV personality went head to head against the reality star Joey Essex, Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Oti Mabuse, the former footballer Neil Ruddock and the actor and singer Su Pollard to claim the title.
However, minutes before the programme was due to air on BBC One at 8pm, Channel 5 News accidentally spoiled the announcement.
A statement posted to Twitter by Channel 5’s News account said: “We would like to say sorry for mistakenly announcing the winner of BBC1’s Celebrity Masterchef before it was revealed on the programme tonight.
“Apologies to all fans of the show.”
Love, who was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly this year, won the Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off with a Caribbean-themed Christmas dinner.
The 41-year-old served a rolled turkey breast stuffed with jerk seasoning, served with parsnip puree, carrots, stuffing, roast potatoes, crispy turkey skin and a cranberry and scotch bonnet chilli jam – which judge Gregg Wallace described as “nothing short of fantastic”.
After the two-hour-and-15-minute challenge, the actor also presented a Jamaican Christmas black cake with a sorrel sauce and a stout and rum punch ice-cream, with judge John Torode saying: “I love it.”
Earlier, the stars were put through the infamous invention test where they had to create a dish using ingredients found in a seasonal Advent calendar.
Another group of celebrities will be competing for a golden whisk on the second Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook-Off on 23 December on BBC One.