Who left Celebrity MasterChef 2026 tonight? Jay McGuiness is first out of BBC show after 'terrible' pie disaster
The Wanted star didn't have a great day in the kitchenJay McGuiness is the first contestant to be sent home from Celebrity MasterChef 2026 after serving up a “terrible” attempt at a pie.
The Wanted star, 36, didn’t have the best round as the Heat 1 celebs headed back into the kitchen for two more challenges.
There was a surprise in store, too.
TV and radio star Paddy McGuinness was invited onto the show for a new Who’s Coming For Dinner? segment.
Paddy challenged the five-some to cook their best pies.
But unfortunately, it all went horribly wrong for Jay…
Who left Celebrity MasterChef tonight?
Jay was the first contestant to be sent home from Celebrity MasterChef 2026. And it came after two disasters in the kitchen.
In the first challenge, he served up a cheesecake… still sitting on the base of the tin. If he had removed it, the entire thing would have fallen apart.
Celebrity MasterChef’s newest judge Giorgio Locatelli told him he needed to use more butter.
Things then went from bad to worse as Jay cooked Paddy, Giorgio and Grace Dent a “classic vegetarian pie”. He absolutely packed it with mushrooms – but it ended in disaster.
The judges predicted what they thought would happen. Giorgio warned of a soggy pie, explaining: “Mushrooms keep on releasing liquids.”
Even Paddy joked: “Do you want to get aa couple of sponges just to drop in there and soak it all up?”
But bizarrely, this wasn’t Jay’s downfall. His pie wasn’t soggy, it was quite the opposite!
Giorgio told him: “Jay, the pastry has cracked a lot. It has definitely got a problem. It’s too crumbly and is almost sandy. You’ve added too much fat into the mixture.”
Paddy was more positive, while Grace praised his accompanying mushroom gravy. Not the pie. She told him: “Your moment of shining is outside of the pie.” Oops!
Jay McGuiness leaves Celebrity MasterChef 2026
As a result of his early exit, Jay has not made it to the first Celebrity MasterChef 2026 quarter final. The judges decided the bottom two contestants were Jay and broadcaster Jason Mohammad, but kept Jason in.
Speaking about why Jay had to leave, Grace said to Giorgio: “You were quite upset by the fact that his cheesecake still had the bottom of the tin on it.”
Giorgio also slated Jay’s pastry efforts, telling her: “It shows a very little understanding of pastry because that dough was terrible.”
Jay was seen hanging up his MasterChef apron.
He sadly said: “I am one of give siblings, I was in a band of five boys, there are five of us mini MasterChefs. It sucks to go. I hate to break up the band. But the memories last.”
Shakira Khan, Joe Pasquale, Emily Campbell and Jason are now through to the Heat 1 quarter final.
When is Celebrity MasterChef 2026 on next?
Don’t get too comfy, as the BBC is keeping you on your toes. Despite the first two episodes running consecutively, the next episode of Celebrity MasterChef 2026 is not on tomorrow night.
Celebrity MasterChef’s Heat 1 will instead conclude on Friday August 20, 2026. And just to confuse things even more, it begins at an earlier start time of 8pm.
The cheeky beggars!
Read more: All the celebrities confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing 2026
