Greg Rutherford Crowned Celebrity MasterChef 2019 Winner

Greg Rutherford has been named the champion of Celebrity MasterChef 2019.

The 32-year-old former athlete saw off strong challenges from fellow finalists Vicky Pattison and Neil Ruddock to lift the sought-after trophy.

Rutherford said he was thrilled after judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace chose him as this year’s winner.

His victory came after he beat a line-up of 19 other famous faces, navigating six weeks of demanding kitchen tasks that tested his determination and pushed his cooking skills to the limit.

Reflecting on the win, the Olympic gold medallist described Celebrity MasterChef as an unforgettable experience and said he was delighted to have taken part.

He explained that he channelled the discipline and focus he developed during his sporting career into producing the best dishes he possibly could.

Rutherford added that he was overjoyed John and Gregg recognised the work he had put in, and said the title was a major achievement. He also looked ahead to making use of the culinary skills he gained throughout the competition.

Meanwhile, John Torode remarked: ‘I am amazed he had time to produce the food he did! Greg is a deserved winner he came into this competition knowing food as a fuel and he is walking out in love with food.’

While Gregg Wallace added: ‘For crying out loud! I knew Greg would be ambitious today but I didn’t quite know how ambitious. He deserves every single shiny millimetre of that trophy because he has put everything into it.’

Throughout the week, Greg, Vicky and Neil had been put through their paces, channelling all they had learnt over the weeks and produce food of the highest standard for the judges.

One of the final challenges saw the trio have to made a large volume of exceptional canapes, before jetting off Tenerife for yet another huge culinary challenge where they experienced both ingredients and cooking techniques they had never seen or heard of before.

Back in the UK, they headed to the formidable Chef’s Table where they had to impress some of the nest chefs in the country, who between them held five Michelin stars. 

Finally, the contenders had to rustle up a three-course meal for judges Gregg and John, with Greg’s ambitious final menu coming up trumps. 

His winning menu consisted of a starter of scotch egg on a rosti nest with mayonnaise and asparagus, followed by a main course of a crusted lamb cutlets with hasselback potatoes, baby carrots, savoy cabbage with a garlic and shallot puree and a mushroom puree.

He finished off with a dessert of a short crust biscuit topped with dark chocolate cremeux with raspberry jelly with chantilly cream. 

The former Strictly Come Dancing star follows in the footsteps of past winners including John Partridge, Angellica Bell, Alexis Conran, Kimberly Wyatt, Sophie Thompson and Ade Edmondson.