Adam Pearson has apologised for his cooking performance after he was booted off Celebrity MasterChef first in his round of heats.
The disability advocate, who put his kitchen skills to the test alongside Coronation Street’s Ryan Thomas, Drag Race UK’s Kitty Scott-Claus, Strictly professional Katya Jones and TV star Lisa Snowdon, had a few slip-ups during the competition which saw him shown the door first – a decision by judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode that he labelled ‘correct’.
In his first challenge, the 37-year-old served up a curried cauliflower dish with buttered potatoes, where the flavours of his plate got him through what he called ‘an interesting start’.
Adam then tried his best with the homemade tacos, where he fully admitted he ‘expected a disaster’ but did pretty well.
However, his jambalaya – chosen, he claimed, because of its impressive Scrabble score potential – saw his cooking come apart a bit with dry chicken and hard chorizo.
‘Under pressure, I ruined he chicken and it just truly got away from me,’ he reflected in the aftermath, adding: ‘And I’m stunned how much I care.’
Lisa Snowdon was named the standout cook of the episode, and when Adam’s elimination was announced he took it with good grace and joked that he had already ‘booked his cab home halfway through’.
After the episode aired on Tuesday, the campaigner, who was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type I after hitting his head at age five, took to Twitter with a video clip.
‘So after tonight’s @MasterChefUK performance I feel the obligatory “celebrity” apology is merited,’ he wrote in the caption.
‘I let you down, me down and let us down. I hope that, in time, you can ALL forgive me and let me return, stronger than ever. I take FULL accountability, I own this, Yours, Adam.’
In the video he added: ‘I know. I’m sorry, I know. You don’t have to tweet me, you don’t have to tell me, you don’t have to call me – I know.
‘All my WhatsApp has been is disappointment from family. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Again, to reiterate, I know and I’m sorry.’
However, lots of viewers leapt to his defence, with one replying: ‘Please don’t feel sorry, you went and did your best and more than I could ever dream of. Be kind to yourself and your achievements.’
‘You were a fab contestant which is what it’s about,’ replied another, while one fan wrote: ‘You were awesome Adam. Honestly awesome – you showed real bravery to go on such a damn tough cooking show, admitting you have very little experience, and still give it your all.’
The cooking hopeful previously spoke to Metro.co.uk about how pleased he was to see the show not ‘pigeonholing’ disabled talent.
‘It’s that thing of upskilling. Any situation I can put myself in where I can meet new people and learn a new skill is an opportunity that I always relish.’
Celebrity MasterChef continues on Thursday at 8pm on BBC1.
