Celebrity MasterChef viewers flood show with complaints after Joe Swash serves ‘raw’ duck

Celebrity MasterChef viewers were astounded that Joe Swash wasn’t sent packing after serving partially raw duck as the competition comes to a close.

The latest episode of Celebrity MasterChef saw six celebs battle it out in a bid to secure a place in the final. The competitors were; presenter Melanie Sykes, presenter and actor Joe Swash, Olympic athlete Kadeena Cox, former footballer Dion Dublin, Love Island’s Kem Cetinay and The Only Way is Essex‘s Megan McKenna.

The challenge they were given was to serve up “one beautiful dish” within an hour and 20 minutes to impress critics Jimi Famurewa, Grace Dent and William Sitwell.

BBC / Celebrity MasterChef

Swash hoped his pan-fried duck in a red wine and cherry sauce would wow the judges, but as he cut the duck before serving, the meat started “bleeding” onto the plate.

“Let me try and suck up some of this blood,” he said as he mopped the plate with a napkin.

As Swash left the kitchen with the plates, MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace grimaced: “That’s leaking out everywhere”.

Once the dish was served to the critics, Famurewa said: "It’s bleeding onto the plate, that’s melding with the cream which isn’t hugely appetising.”

BBC / Celebrity MasterChef

Sitwell added: "In my single piece of duck there are bits that are almost raw and bits that are overcooked. I don’t know how you do that."

Wallace commented: “Duck flesh is pink and beautiful but it’s off-putting to have blood on a plate.”

Sampling it for himself, judge John Torode said: “Besides that it actually tastes really good.”

Despite Swash’s blunder, it was Sykes who was sent home after serving her risotto 10 minutes late.

Fans of the show took to Twitter to vent about the I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! winner’s dish:

Some tweeted in support of Swash, with one Twitter user remarking that he seems like a “genuinely nice guy.”

To watch the action for yourself, you can catch up on BBC iPlayer.