MasterChef: The Professionals viewers rage as show bids au revoir to ‘genius’ French chef – after Marcus Wareing tells him he was ‘trying too hard’ with jellied egg dish
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The latest episode of MasterChef: The Professionals has caused an almighty stir, after a fan favourite unexpectedly got the boot.
Philippe Sonou, a private chef from Paris, had been tipped to win the show thanks to his inventive African-inspired cookery but the 33-year-old controversially lost out in a super close semi-final .
Viewers were left raging at their television as judges Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace announced Phillipe and Kyle – who had also been thought to be a dead cert for the final – were going home.
Instead, Charlie and Lauren, who impressed in the episode’s second chance cook-off have booked their places in the last stage of the competition.
The sight of Philippe packing up his chef whites and leaving the Pro left many questioning whether the right decision had been made – with one viewer saying they’d boycott the show from now on, and another admitting they were ‘heartbroken’.
The semi-final – episode 16 – saw eight chefs fighting for a final place.
After the first round, four would go through to the final automatically, while those who hadn’t impressed had to cook again – serving up a plant-based plate of food – with two chefs then exiting the show.
Philippe’s first dish – cassava fries, coconut, lemongrass and plantain puree with a tomato-based sauce inspired by his West Africa heritage – didn’t cut the mustard with the judges.
After Kasae, James, Tom and Daniel sailed through, Philippe returned to cook again, this time serving up an ‘oeuf parfait’, a slow cooked egg topped with alligator pepper in a hay-infused smoked pepper jelly with curried coconut cream and spinach coulis.
The dish that made them say au revoir: While Monica Galetti liked Philippe’s ‘oeuf parfait’, a slow cooked egg topped with alligator pepper in a hay-infused smoked pepper jelly with curried coconut cream and spinach coulis, the other two judges said they didn’t enjoy it
Marcus Wareing called Philippe’s oeuf parfait ‘challenging’, while Gregg Wallace admitted he was ‘struggling’ with the contrasting flavours
As the news was broken to Philippe that his journey on the show had come to an end, viewers were outraged on his behalf
Monica described the plating up as a visual ‘wonder’ and told the Parisian ‘I’ve got crazy flavours going off but I know that I’m enjoying it…’
However, Gregg admitted he was ‘struggling’ with the contrasting flavours…and Marcus didn’t hold back, saying Philippe was ‘trying too hard’ and saying the dish was ‘so unusual it’s challenging.’
The decision to end Philippe’s journey there sparked a raft of fury on social media.
One viewer wrote: ‘This whole episode has been a mess. If Philippe – the best cook remaining, in my opinion – goes home, I’m out for the rest of the series.’
Elsewhere, there was outright rage, with one viewer writing: ‘What the utter hell? How have you ditched Philippe??? He should never had been in that cook off. The first dish was described as challenging, but challenging in a way that had merit. Nah man I’m not happy. #philippewasrobbed.’
The first round of episode 16 had seen the chef serve up cassava fries, coconut, lemongrass and plantain puree with a tomato-based sauce inspired by his West Africa heritage – but the judges didn’t love it
Philippe had been tipped to take the Professionals crown this year…but controversially got the boot in the semi-finals
Philosophical: The private chef said he wouldn’t stop being inventive in the kitchen
Talented north east chef Kyle – who had looked like being a dead cert for a finals place – also went home in the close semi-final
Another added: ‘Oh bloody hell. What have they done? Philippe was by far the most exciting chef they’ve had on this contest. Possibly ever.’
One wrote: ‘Actually heartbroken that Philippe has left the competition. I was so sure that he was going to win.’
A fan mourned, saying: ‘The worst thing is we can’t even go to a restaurant to try Philippe’s amazing cooking, because he’s a private chef.’
The remaining six contestants will now be split into two groups, with each group battling it out in a Michelin-starred kitchen to try and make the final cut – and be in with a chance of lifting the final trophy.
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