Jason Mohammad has spoken to us about his MasterChef exit, how it’s changed his outlook, and what might be next as he tries to branch out and explore things out of his comfort zone
10:18, 22 Aug 2026Updated 10:42, 22 Aug 2026
Jason Mohammad has reflected on his time on MasterChef which he said has been one of the best experiences of his life and has changed him somewhat(Image: Jason Mohammad)
Jason Mohammad is reflecting on his MasterChef quarter final exit from the kitchen of his home in Cardiff when his teenage son Max walks in on our conversation about his time on the show.
“I was fairly impressed with him,” Max, 19, says in comedic fashion. “I think that is the best cooking I’ve ever seen him do because he doesn’t cook like that here!”
Jason asks if Max wants curry for dinner and Max jokes he’d rather have his dad’s pancakes he cooked up for judges Giorgio Locatelli and Grace Dent on the BBC show which he was knocked out of on Friday night.
He’s not scarred from the experience. Far from it. In fact, he’s come out of it wanting to cook even more at home, so Max might be in luck.
The family watched while on holiday in Greece. “We watched the second episode together as a family out on holiday which was hilarious,” Jason laughs. “The family were all laughing all the way through.”
He managed to keep from them how far he’d got in the competition. Not that that was difficult – they’d asked for him not to tell them so they could really enjoy watching him on the show.
“They didn’t know and they obviously didn’t want to know how it ended, so they were cheering when I got through to the quarter finals. A quarter finalist on Celebrity MasterChef? That’s not bad is it? TV people say that when you take part in shows that aren’t your own the golden rule is don’t go out in the first round.
“I didn’t watch them live. I was out for dinner in Greece when it was on and my phone has never pinged so much in all my life! I had a range of people saying: ‘I am crying with laughter on the sofa.’ And: ‘You’ve been so entertaining but, my goodness, please do never cook pancakes for me if you come around for breakfast!'”
It’s the end of the road for Welsh presenter Jason Mohammad’s Celebrity MasterChef journey(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Shine TV)
Still, it’s all come as a bit of an ego boost for Jason, with confirmation he is indeed a dab hand at a sticky toffee pudding.
“The kids are a bit older now but when they were younger I always made sure I was cooking for them most nights,” Jason recalls. “They were going out to tennis lessons, drama, singing, dancing, football, and we’d always make sure there was something on the go – home-cooked food.
“Whether that was a spag bol or a chilli or a curry, we’d keep it simple and sometimes have a pizza or something, but I’d always make sure there was something nice on the go.
“Before we had the kids we had dinner parties nearly every other weekend, and I used to love cooking for guests, Christmas dinners and, like I said on the show, Eid celebrations too.
“In a way they did inspire me. Less so now because I don’t see them so often and my eldest daughter lives in London, but when she’s home, we’ll try and have a family dinner together.
“I was buzzing when they [the judges] loved my sticky toffee pudding because I do bake at home quite a lot. I probably bake as much as I cook really.”
He’s passed the baking knowledge onto younger daughter Poppy, 16, who’s a bit of a natural. “She’s a great baker. Her and I used to bake cakes all the time. I think my baking skills helped me out there and just kind of hauled me back into the competition a little bit. Seeing Grace and Giorgio actually enjoying a bit of food just warms the heart, especially in those tense moments.”
Jason said that the BBC cooking show was a “daunting experience” (Image: Jason Mohammad)
There were tense moments aplenty. It seemed Jason and Giorgio shared a bit of a love-hate relationship. Giorgio even called him “cocky” and said that he had “too much confidence”.
Jason is philosophical about the whole thing. “I go into every show, every TV show, every radio show I do, even this interview, I go into it with as much energy and enthusiasm as I would if I was presenting Final Score, Match of the Day, Good Morning Sunday on Radio 2, or Radio Wales. I’m giving the same gusto I’m giving this interview in the kitchen.
“I wonder whether it was a bit too much for him [Giorgio]. I genuinely think he was thinking: ‘Hang on a minute. This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.’
“Two big personalities, two big characters, and when he’s in the kitchen he’s the boss, right? So, in a way, I had to just kind of say ‘Yes, chef,’ and just get on with it.
“A lot of people have said: ‘What is it about Giorgio? Does he not like you?’ I was like: ‘No, I’m sure he’s just having to do that. Someone has got to be the harsh critic.’ I love Grace – I really gelled with her, but Giorgio was a tough crowd. I suppose that’s just part of his shtick really.”
He is fiercely connected to his dual Pakistani-Welsh heritage and explores it as much as he can through his cooking. In the first episode he did a keema dish – one of his favourites – and went on to cook Welsh lamb pie for Paddy McGuinness in episode two.
“I thought if I’m going into the show then I need to give a little bit of personality as well,” he says. “I’m very proud of being from Cardiff as well, very very proud of being who I am really, and I thought the keema dish was something that I could bring to it that’s slightly different.
“There are a whole bunch of dishes I could have made as my signature dish to be perfectly honest with you, but I thought that one would perhaps spell out a bit more of who I am as a person, because I genuinely think sometimes what we serve is very much in our soul and that is the one dish that reminds me of Eid celebrations after fasting during Ramadan.
“Some of my earliest memories are eating that amazing rich earthy lamb keema with potatoes mopped up with chapatis, and that’s what I wanted to evoke and that’s what I wanted the audience to kind of appreciate. This wasn’t just me presenting food on a plate for Giorgio and Grace, it was about showing the kind of the depths of my soul as well and who I am.
“My nan was an amazing cook and in the show when we cooked the pie for Paddy, the short crust pastry, I remember making cheese straws with her on Saturday afternoons and so all those little techniques that you pick up throughout your life, I just wanted to kind of almost show a bit of what I’ve learned through family and friends over the years.
“It pleases me that the big dishes I made, the keema and the pie, were dishes that meant a lot to me, and they both liked them. So I walk away with my reputation intact and knowing that I brought a little bit of pleasure to them.”
He’s back to some sort of normality now, about to begin another season of Final Score which properly kicks off this weekend with the start of the Premier League season, yet he does want to branch out a bit and he’s definitely got the chef bug(Image: Jason Mohammad)
He’s back to some sort of normality now, about to begin another season of Final Score which properly kicks off this weekend with the start of the Premier League season, yet he does want to branch out a bit and he’s definitely got the chef bug.
“I’m not too sure if I’ll be opening J-Mo’s keema stand as endorsed by Giorgio Locatelli,” he laughs. “But you never know, that could happen. So, maybe have a look at some festivals in the future. Who knows? If you see a queue forming outside Cardiff Castle you know I managed to get in there with a curry van!”
After Final Score he has his Sunday Radio 2 show, his weekday Radio Wales phone-in, and he’s most looking forward to Tuesday when he’s at the Cardiff City Stadium to watch his beloved Bluebirds host Norwich City.
“I was texting the Cardiff manager Brian Barry-Murphy on Tuesday after the game [against Wrexham] saying congratulations on the point. I’ll be down there as much as I can this season, hoping for a good season.”
His mind is never too far from food. “They do a great pie down at Cardiff City. Often when I was a kid one of the things we used to do is we used to get chips on the way home. Sometimes we still stop for chips on the way back now. But if it’s a late game, like Tuesday, it might just be some toast and a cup of tea. If we’ve won it might be a toast and and a cup of tea. If we’ve lost it might be straight to bed and being a bit miserable.”
He’s been a bit taken aback by a wave of support, especially on social media. “I must give a big shout out to all the people who’ve supported me along the way, especially the people of Wales,” he says. “I’ve had so many lovely messages from people I know, people I don’t know, and especially on socials. I was flying the flag for Wales in there and the people of Wales really got behind me. I love them to bits and God bless them.”
The presenter spoke of how his family inspire his cooking(Image: Jason Mohammad)
He just wishes he could do it all again, even if he did find it slightly terrifying. “It’s one of the shows that I’d always wanted to have a go at. I’d watched it for years and years and I’d always thought to myself, when you’re in TV and radio business, you always think about the shows you see other people do and other presenters do. I’d always thought to myself: ‘Well, I cook most evenings, I like eating, I love eating out in restaurants, it’s one of those shows I wouldn’t mind having a crack at.’
“Nothing prepares you for stepping into that kitchen. I’ve cooked dinner in the various houses I’ve lived in when I was a student, the homes I’ve lived in when I’ve been working, I’ve cooked in friends’ kitchens, but nothing prepares you for that moment when you step into the MasterChef kitchen.
“As a presenter I’ll walk into my Final Score studio and that’s my space, I’m presenting that show and along with my production team we’ll be in control. Suddenly I was not in control, I was in someone else’s territory and that is slightly terrifying. Especially when Grace and Giorgio walk out for the first time that’s when it hits you that this is real.
“That’s why I suppose you see me playing up to a few of the cameras. One thing I want to stress is I loved the crew. So the cameras, the sound technicians, floor managers, I’ve always got on really well with crews. I love them to bits and they were so dear to me and that’s why they were saying to me, ‘Jase, flick that onion up,’ and I was just being the showman because when I see a camera that’s what I do I play up.
“I get people saying to me on a Saturday afternoon, do you speak like this at home when you turn the camera forward and say ‘Go on Anfield?’ Of course I don’t. It’s a bit like acting in a way, that’s my stage. So I suppose in a way that’s the big difference I saw. I wasn’t in control, but where the camera caught me I tried to have some fun with it.
“It’s one of the best experiences of my life. I mean, what a thrill. One of the biggest shows on the BBC, one of the biggest shows on telly, great food show. I loved every minute of it. It was such a great experience, and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.”
You can watch Celebrity MasterChef on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.