Eagle-eyed MasterChef viewers called out a kitchen blunder during the latest episode of the BBC cooking competition.
The final five contestants battled for their spots in the quarter-finals with the Basic to Brilliant challenge.
Now-sacked host John Torode explained that the task was about ‘taking an ingredient from the everyday and the ordinary and making it brilliant.’
It was Gabi, from London, who caught fans’ attention as she outlined her plan to make a mushroom and ricotta-filled tortelli dish with a mushroom consommé and tuile.
As the camera panned down from the 30-year-old’s face, viewers noticed that her sleeves, which stretched halfway down her hands, were being dragged through the flour and dough.
One X user exclaimed: ‘Good grief, get rid of those flappy sleeves. Unhygienic.’
Eagle-eyed MasterChef viewers called out a kitchen blunder during the latest episode of the BBC cooking competition
As the camera panned down from the 30-year-old’s face, viewers noticed that her sleeves, which stretched halfway down her hands, were being dragged through the flour and dough
Another echoed in disgust: ‘Why does hygiene get thrown out of the window? That woman’s sleeves in the pasta.’
A third chimed in: ‘Why are you wearing baggy long sleeves while cooking?’
Which prompted a fourth to chip in with: ‘Totally agree, thought the same.’
A fifth simply exclaimed: ‘Filthy sleeves in the mix! Yuck.’
However the BBC judges has a more positive response to Gabi.
Both John and co-host Gregg Wallace, who has also now been fired, were glowing with praise as she revealed how it was inspired by her upbringing in Lithuania.
John gushed: ‘I take my hat off to you, the talent here, pasta, filling, tuile. The tuile looks amazing, there nothing else but mushroom here?’
Meanwhile Gregg complimented the ‘very well-made pasta’ and noted ‘you’ve managed to get mushrooms through that as well.’
Both John and co-host Gregg Wallace, who has also now been fired, were glowing with praise as she revealed how it was inspired by her upbringing in Lithuania
He concluded: ‘Your filling is creamy, but perhaps an inclusion of a herb like tarragon may have given it another dimension.’
John signed off: ‘Your consome is lovely and clear. There’s a smoky mushroom flavour going through the whole thing, and then you’ve got a woody mushroom through your tuile with the saltiness from feta cheese. You got a huge amount done. It’s good.’
Gabi didn’t manage to bag an apron for the dish, but found her stride during the second round.
She secured her place in the quarter finals with a pan-fried poussin breast, served with pomme puree, honey-roasted carrots, and a creamy white wine sauce.
MasterChef fans have also been quick to call out a string of editing blunders by the BBC, who scrambled to cut down Gregg’s appearance in the series.
Gabi secured her place in the quarter finals with a pan-fried poussin breast, served with pomme puree, honey-roasted carrots, and a creamy white wine sauce
Gregg and co-host John Torode were sacked after almost 20 years on the show by the BBC last month after an investigation upheld allegations about their poor behaviour.
Wallace had 40 complaints upheld, including one where he was accused of wandering around set naked with a sock on his penis. Torode was found to have used a racist term in 2018.
Since their final series of MasterChef was filmed before they were both fired, bosses insisted on keeping them in the final edit – but only if they were on screen less and their banter and jokes were cut down to a minimum.
Viewers have pointed out ‘disgraceful’ edits in the new series on BBC One and iPlayer, with many cuts appearing awkward and repetitive, including those of Mr Wallace.
In one scene shown earlier this month, stills of Gregg pulling the same face three times in around a minute made it to air – with many suggesting that the BBC and production company Banijay used the same footage of the disgraced host repeatedly through the show.
Some of his fans have even claimed the edits, where Gregg gives a semi-gurning smile, were deliberately to embarrass him and ‘make him look demented’.
TikTok user Gingernat Design shared a particularly unusual example, writing: ‘Clever editing from MasterChef.
‘Whether this is to do with the allegations or not I don’t know, but it’s jokes how they just froze Gregg Wallace for an entire conversation.’
MasterChef fans have also been quick to call out a string of editing blunders by the BBC, who scrambled to cut down Gregg’s appearance in the series
The now-viral clip sees a contestant discuss her performance with Torode and Wallace.
The same shot of Wallace appears to be used three times in succession – and he is seen with a broad grin fixed on his face.
The uncanny scene has horrified fans, who rushed to social media to express their disapproval.
‘I saw this and it looked absolutely demented,’ wrote one user, while another added: ‘Is this for real?’
One incredulous viewer said: ‘Have they had Gregg killed and stuffed and he just permanently placed like that throughout? Would certainly solve a lot of problems.’
And one wrote: ‘Weren’t they supposed to remove the creepy bits…?’
Some fans were confused by the disgraced presenter’s presence in the latest season of the hit cooking show
But other fans were confused at Torode and Wallace’s presence in the programme.
One wrote: ‘I thought they would be in the show much less – i.e. hardly at all, no cutaways, unless they were talking. It seems like the programme has hardly been edited…’
A former production expert offered some insight as to why the episode looked as it did.
‘I work in post production in UK TV (not for the BBC or on Masterchef though), and based on the turnaround time, it was probably the quickest fix they could do,’ he said.
‘Just reuse the previous shot to cover up any cut content.’
And others pointed out the unfortunate selection of the clip that appeared to be repeated.
One wrote: ‘I’m crying and they picked a clip where he looks SO dodgy. Not helpful at all considering the recent allegations.’
MasterChef is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.