#DisasterChef #Marcus #Wareing #stages #intervention #stop #flustered #contestant #serving #RAW #meringue #food #critics #including #Tom #Parker #Bowles #viewers #call #moment #039painful #watch039
- The quarter-final proved tense as Welsh chef Ieuan faced meringue mayhem
- Read more: Masterchef: The Professionals viewers stunned as contestant abandons dessert and serves incomplete main after ‘going to pieces’
MasterChef The Professionals viewers were left wincing at their screens last night after a contestant who had been tipped for the late stages of the show crumbled in front of a trio of high-profile critics.
Welsh chef Ieuan was the only cook of the four in the quarter-final heat, which aired on BBC One on Thursday, to try and make a dessert for food critics Jay Rayner, Tom Parker Bowles and Jimi Famurewa – and he quickly regretted his decision.
The culinary pro was making a lemon pie with sable biscuit base and Italian meringue – but he switched to a quickly whipped-up French meringue when his first attempt wouldn’t set.
After piping the raw egg French meringue onto his biscuit bases, a worried-looking Marcus Wareing staged an intervention, telling the flustered chef: ‘Ieuan, it’s raw. You can’t eat raw meringue. Do you understand what you’ve done?’
!['Do you understand what you've done?' Marcus Wareing looks on sternly as he watches chef Ieuan flounder after attempting to serve a dish with French meringue - containing raw egg - on it](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359029-12706469-_Do_you_understand_what_you_ve_done_Marcus_Wareing_looks_on_ster-a-11_1699009881462.jpg)
‘Do you understand what you’ve done?’ Marcus Wareing looks on sternly as he watches chef Ieuan flounder after attempting to serve a dish with French meringue – containing raw egg – on it
Looking crestfallen, the chef said: ‘I haven’t got a dessert to plate. I don’t know what to do’… before he steadied his nerves, scooped out the lemon and meringue and conjured up a new dessert using lemon and piped cream.
At home, viewers of the cookery show were hooked on the kitchen drama.
One wrote: ‘Oh the poor man. This is physically painful to watch. Who knew meringue was such a fickle mistress?’
Another wrote: ‘What the actual sh***ing f**k was he thinking when he was piping raw meringue on his dessert?’
Many had nothing but sympathy for the Welsh cook, who had shined in previous rounds of the competition.
One penned: ‘Gutted for Ieuan! Great chef.’
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359339-12706469-image-a-15_1699009955706.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359039-12706469-image-a-16_1699009960021.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359035-12706469-image-a-17_1699009963878.jpg)
![After his Italian meringue failed to set the Welsh pro set about creating a French one... but then tried to serve it raw - before Marcus intervened](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359045-12706469-After_his_Italian_meringue_failed_to_set_the_Welsh_pro_set_about-a-14_1699009932545.jpg)
After his Italian meringue failed to set the Welsh pro set about creating a French one… but then tried to serve it raw – before Marcus intervened
![A terrified looking Ieuan said: 'I haven't got a dessert to plate. I don't know what to do'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359033-12706469-A_terrified_looking_Ieuan_said_I_haven_t_got_a_dessert_to_plate_-a-28_1699010225812.jpg)
A terrified looking Ieuan said: ‘I haven’t got a dessert to plate. I don’t know what to do’
Another added: ‘I really felt for Ieuan. Well done getting anything on the plate.’
Eventually, he made it through to the table, and while the judges were sympathetic, it wasn’t enough to keep the chef in the competition.
The latest series of the show has been fraught with culinary disasters so far.
Earlier this week, an episode saw two chefs fail to present a dessert at all to go with their main courses after they claimed to run out of time.
One of them, Ola, 33, who works as the head chef for a London sporting venue, went to pieces as the pressure of the show hit.
The experienced chef – who was born in Nigeria – had planned to make a frangipane using a Nigerian almond substitute and a dark chocolate cremeux served with macerated strawberries and celery.
![Viewers said they felt sorry for the chef, who had shined in previous rounds](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359049-12706469-Viewers_said_they_felt_sorry_for_the_chef_who_had_shined_in_prev-a-27_1699010218157.jpg)
Viewers said they felt sorry for the chef, who had shined in previous rounds
![Wareing staged an intervention...and agreed when the contestant asked if he should scoop out the sable biscuit bases and conjure up another dessert](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359043-12706469-Wareing_staged_an_intervention_and_agreed_when_the_contestant_as-a-26_1699010210497.jpg)
Wareing staged an intervention…and agreed when the contestant asked if he should scoop out the sable biscuit bases and conjure up another dessert
![In the bin: but Ieaun rallied and served up the lemon pie with just piped cream instead](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359031-12706469-In_the_bin_but_Ieaun_rallied_and_served_up_the_lemon_pie_with_ju-a-25_1699010202759.jpg)
In the bin: but Ieaun rallied and served up the lemon pie with just piped cream instead
![After apologising to judges Jay Rayner, Tom Parker Bowles and Jimi Famurewa, he managed to serve his lemon pie](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77359025-12706469-After_apologising_to_judges_Jay_Rayner_Tom_Parker_Bowles_and_Jim-a-24_1699010195369.jpg)
After apologising to judges Jay Rayner, Tom Parker Bowles and Jimi Famurewa, he managed to serve his lemon pie
![Although the celebrity food critics were sympathetic to Ieuan's kitchen nightmare, it wasn't enough to keep him in the competition (Pictured from left: Jay Rayner, Tom Parker Bowles and Jimi Famurewa)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77360695-12706469-Although_the_celebrity_food_critics_were_sympathetic_to_Ieuan_s_-a-31_1699010854260.jpg)
Although the celebrity food critics were sympathetic to Ieuan’s kitchen nightmare, it wasn’t enough to keep him in the competition (Pictured from left: Jay Rayner, Tom Parker Bowles and Jimi Famurewa)
However, he soon realised that his frangipane hadn’t cooked and his dessert would have to be re-thought – before he abandoned it altogether.
Gregg told him: ‘We can clearly see that your timing went to pieces because you haven’t completed the dish the way you wanted to and we also haven’t got a dessert at all, have we?’
Ola was eliminated, telling the programme: ‘I am sad and disappointed in myself because I know what I’m capable of,’ he said. ‘I haven’t put my best out there.’
![And Ieaun isn't the only chef to falter: Earlier this week, Ola (pictured), 33, from London, wanted to showcase his love of Nigerian cooking in his signature challenge but didn't leave enough time to present a dessert](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/11/77223051-12706469-Ola_pictured_33_from_London_wanted_to_showcase_his_love_of_Niger-a-19_1699009998816.jpg)
And Ieaun isn’t the only chef to falter: Earlier this week, Ola (pictured), 33, from London, wanted to showcase his love of Nigerian cooking in his signature challenge but didn’t leave enough time to present a dessert