Celebrity Masterchef: Channel 5 News apologises after revealing winner before episode aired

‘Didn’t realise Prue Leith worked on Channel 5 News,’ one viewer joked

Channel 5 viewers were left confused and angry after the winner of Celebrity Masterchef was announced before the show had even aired.

Two self-contained episodes of the cookery competition series are being broadcast on BBC One this Christmas, as part of a special titled the Christmas Cook Off.

The first aired on Tuesday (21 December) and saw Joey Essex, Judi Love, Su Pollard, Neil Ruddock and Oti Mabuse compete for the trophy.

Love ended up winning the episode, but the news had already been announced on Channel 5 News hours before, as the presenter revealed the name of the “newly crowned Celebrity Masterchef”.

The network apologised on Twitter for making the blunder, tweeting: “We would like to say sorry for mistakenly announcing the winner of BBC1’s Celebrity Masterchef before it was revealed on the programme tonight. Apologies to all fans of the show.”

“Thanks @channel5_tv news for announcing the winner of @BBCOne #CelebrityMasterChef BEFORE episode 1 has even started!!! That will save us watching then,” one commenter wrote.

Another tweet read: “#CelebrityMasterChef well thanks to #channel5news not really much point watching! Spoiler alert next time you plonkers!!!!”

“Didn’t realise Prue Leith worked on Channel 5 News,” one viewer joked, in reference to The Great British Bake Off judge infamously tweeting the name of the show’s winner ahead of the final.

Episode two of Celebrity Masterchef will be broadcast on Thursday (23 December) and see Gemma Collins, Joe Swash, Les Dennis, Mica Paris and Reverend Richard Coles attempt to recreate Christmas recipes from around the world.

Celebrity Masterchef Christmas Cook Off airs Thursday 23 December at 9pm on BBC One.