MasterChef’s Dan Dumbrell causes panic in the kitchen as he struggles with delicate element of dessert during Pressure Test
MasterChef Australia contestants are about to face one of the show’s most difficult challenges in the show’s history.
A preview of Tuesday night’s episode on news.com.au sees aspiring chef Dan Dumbrell making an intricate element for a dessert dish by renowned chocolatier Kirsten Tibballs, as part of Masters Week on the show.
The 31-year-old looks incredibly focused as he makes marbled chocolate balls for the dish.
Oh dear! MasterChef contestant Dan Dumbrell causes panic in the kitchen as he struggles with a delicate element of his dessert dish during Tuesday night’s Pressure Test
He dipped a white chocolate sphere into a bowl with milk chocolate and red gel swirls that created a mesmerising visual effect.
The Research Project Officer then placed the ball and stick into an acrylic stand to allow the excess to drip off.
As he got started with the second ball, the first fell out of place and onto the bench.
The other contestants up in the gantry gasped in shock, as judge Melissa Leong said ‘Oh My God’.
Hard task: The 31-year-old looks incredibly focused as he makes marbled chocolate balls for his dish
Gently: The Research Project Officer then placed the ball and stick into an acrylic stand to allow the excess to drip off
Dan soldiered on to put the second ball in place in the stand, but if unfortunately fell again – even causing chef Kirsten, who set the task, to put her head in her hands out of concern for him.
The contestants in the gantry cheered him on as he moved onto his third ball, but that attempt fell flat onto the table.
Despite showing resilience and pushing through the challenge, it was clear the problem with the chocolate spheres was stressing Dan out.
The nail biting teaser comes as MasterChef has failed to achieve the same ratings results as it did last year.
Can’t bear to look! Dan soldiered on to put the second ball in place in the stand, but it unfortunately fell again – even causing chef Kirsten (right, next to judge Andy Allen) to put her head in her hands out of concern for him
Oh no! The contestants in the gantry cheered him on as he moved onto his third ball
The new season launched to just 670,000 metro viewers on April 19, which was a considerable drop from the 1.23 million who watched the premiere of MasterChef: Back to Win on April 13, 2020.
Last year, the cooking program had managed to reach more than a million viewers four nights in a row during its debut week – and even towards the end of the season in June it was still pulling in 900,000 viewers per episode in the five major cities.
But for some reason, this year’s season hasn’t been able to pull in similar numbers.
It’s perhaps because the latest series includes all-new contestants, while last year’s featured a cast of returning favourites – including much-loved chef Poh Ling Yeow, Reynold Poernomo and Callum Hann, who made a brief return last week.
MasterChef Australia continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Channel 10
All stars: This year’s season hasn’t been able to pull in similar numbers, likely because it features all-new contestants, while last year’s featured a cast of returning favourites – including Poh Ling Yeow, Callum Hann and Reynold Poernomo (pictured left to right)