A Celebrity MasterChef challenge was briefly halted as Alfie Boe started to feel the pressure.
The opera singer has progressed to the final week of the BBC cooking contest, presented by John Torode and Grace Dent, who has taken over from Gregg Wallace.
Competing against Ginger Johnson, Jamie Lomas, Dawn O’Porter and Alun Wyn Jones, Alfie tackled the challenge of preparing part of an afternoon tea service.
Working under the watchful gaze of pastry chef Cherish Finden, the celebrities were cautioned that “it is not going to be easy”.
Before even entering the kitchen, Alfie confessed: “I shake a lot when I get nervous and stressed, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it together. Hopefully I’m just in charge of brewing the tea,” reports Wales Online.
He subsequently remarked: “This is horrible, the pressure I’m feeling, for crying out loud.”
When Cherish observed, “You look nervous,” Alfie responded: “I am nervous.”
She advised him: “You need to hold your nerve today.”
Alfie’s assignment involved preparing garlic butter prawns with pickled cucumber presented in a charcoal bun. Yet, whilst plating up, he had to stop momentarily to compose himself.
Attempting to dice tiny portions of cucumber and mango into precisely-sized cubes, he explained: “It’s ridiculous, I’ve had professors scream at me if I’m not singing something right, I don’t want to let her down.”
He later emphasised the difficulty whilst weighing dough portions into 15gram pieces: “This is really hard, the accuracy is ridiculous,” adding: “I’m trying my best, I’m stressed, I’m really stressed.”
As he attempted to assemble his prawn buns, Alfie reminded himself to stay calm and breathe, a point at which Cherish intervened.
She confessed: “I’m actually very worried about Alfie. He is shaking.”
Meanwhile, Alfie was heard saying: “I’m struggling, I’m really struggling, I can’t do this.”
Cherish advised him: “I think you need to take a deep breath, and keep your nerve.”
“Stop,” she commanded him. “I want you to take a deep breath and calm down yourself.”
She then gave him a hug and asked: “Are you ok?”
“This is why I’m a singer,” he laughed. “It’s a little bit stressful today,” he later added, with the camera pointing out his shaking hands.
At one point, he broke some of the garnish he had been moulding, and was left with his head in his hands as Cherish warned: “Be careful!”
He told the camera: “That was another level, ridiculously hard. I couldn’t do this particular side of the job.”
Grace was full of praise meanwhile, saying: “I know that Alfie went to hell and back but it was worth it.”
Ahead of starring in this series, Alfie shared: “I wanted to rise to the challenge of the Celebrity MasterChef competition. But also, when I got here, I realised it’s not all about winning the show. It’s about learning, it’s about picking up tips, and being strong on timings – that element of the competition is tough.”
Celebrity MasterChef is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
