Fans of Celebrity MasterChef were left perplexed last night after they saw Black Eyed Peas rapper apl.de.ap - real name Allan Pineda Lindo - serve up a baked potato and stay in the competition.
He'd been told by judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode to serve them something featuring goat's cheese, with him first mistaking his key ingredient for a block of butter.
The rapper then baked a potato and stuffed it with bacon and mushrooms making it a pretty basic dish, which plenty of viewers weren't all that impressed by.
Advert
Then again, apl.de.ap didn't have to impress the people watching at home as his baked potato got the thumbs up from the judges and he stayed in the show.
Wallace said the rapper's choice of ingredients had been 'absolutely sound' but wished there'd been something on the side, while Torode praised him for baking a potato with 'great textures as well as really good flavour'.
He had also tried to prepare some sautéed garlic onion potatoes but admitted his 'mind went blank' during cooking and he rather forgot about them.
In the end, it was Strictly Come Dancing star Dianne Buswell who ultimately got sent home from Celebrity MasterChef and some viewers were fuming that she'd gone when someone who was cooking a baked potato had stayed in.
Advert
One viewer fumed that the rapper cooking a baked potato - that got the approval of the judges - showed that Celebrity MasterChef was 'dumbed down TV at its worst'.
Another fan of the show couldn't believe they were seeing 'Dianna out but Apl still in with a dry jacket potato', as true as it was.
Someone else complained that 'he didn't even make a side of beans' with his baked potato.
"How mini will-i-am got through after making a jacket potato is beyond me," another viewer said, but they didn't enjoy the dish the judges described as a 'marriage made in heaven'.
Advert
Even if the baked potato is a pretty basic dish, we're talking baked potato with goat's cheese, mushrooms and bacon- apparently cooked very well - showing that any dish done well enough could be considered very fine indeed.
All the people complaining only got to see it and weren't able to taste for themselves.
Other viewers took heart from the baked potato's victory, with one fan saying 'there is hope for me and my culinary skills yet' and another 'wondering if we're ready for MasterChef' after having 'baked potatoes for dinner'.
Topics: BBC, Food And Drink, TV and Film, Celebrity
Joe Harker