Shaking Celebrity MasterChef star ordered to stop | UK News

A Celebrity MasterChef problem was briefly halted as Alfie Boe began to really feel the strain.

The opera singer has progressed to the ultimate week of the BBC cooking contest, introduced by John Torode and Grace Dent, who has taken over from Gregg Wallace.

Competing against Ginger Johnson, Jamie Lomas, Dawn O’Porter and Alun Wyn Jones, Alfie tackled the problem of making ready half of an afternoon tea service.

Working under the watchful gaze of pastry chef Cherish Finden, the celebrities have been cautioned that “it is not going to be easy”.

Before even coming into the kitchen, Alfie confessed: “I shake a lot when I get nervous and stressed, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it together. Hopefully I’m just in charge of brewing the tea,” stories Wales Online.

He subsequently remarked: “This is horrible, the pressure I’m feeling, for crying out loud.”

When Cherish noticed, “You look nervous,” Alfie responded: “I am nervous.”

She suggested him: “You need to hold your nerve today.”

Alfie’s project concerned making ready garlic butter prawns with pickled cucumber introduced in a charcoal bun. Yet, while plating up, he had to stop momentarily to compose himself.

Attempting to cube tiny parts of cucumber and mango into precisely-sized cubes, he explained: “It’s ridiculous, I’ve had professors scream at me if I’m not singing something right, I don’t want to let her down.”

He later emphasised the issue while weighing dough parts into 15gram items: “This is really hard, the accuracy is ridiculous,” including: “I’m trying my best, I’m stressed, I’m really stressed.”

As he tried to assemble his prawn buns, Alfie reminded himself to keep calm and breathe, a level at which Cherish intervened.

She confessed: “I’m actually very worried about Alfie. He is shaking.”

Meanwhile, Alfie was heard saying: “I’m struggling, I’m really struggling, I can’t do this.”

Cherish suggested him: “I think you need to take a deep breath, and keep your nerve.”

“Stop,” she commanded him. “I want you to take a deep breath and calm down yourself.”

She then gave him a hug and requested: “Are you ok?”

“This is why I’m a singer,” he laughed. “It’s a little bit stressful today,” he later added, with the digicam declaring his shaking palms.

At one level, he broke some of the garnish he had been moulding, and was left with his head in his palms as Cherish warned: “Be careful!”

He told the digicam: “That was another level, ridiculously hard. I couldn’t do this particular side of the job.”

Grace was full of reward meanwhile, saying: “I know that Alfie went to hell and back but it was worth it.”

Ahead of starring in this sequence, Alfie shared: “I wanted to rise to the challenge of the Celebrity MasterChef competition. But also, when I got here, I realised it’s not all about winning the show. It’s about learning, it’s about picking up tips, and being strong on timings – that element of the competition is tough.”

Celebrity MasterChef is obtainable to watch on BBC iPlayer.