Celebrity MasterChef 2026 contestant Eric Underwood saw his hopes of reaching the semi finals disappear after a gravy disaster and a dessert that ended up in the bin.
The retired ballet dancer struggled during a tense quarterfinal as his red onion gravy failed to impress judges Grace Dent and Giorgio Locatelli.
Earlier in the show, half of his team’s churros had already been thrown away.
Those kitchen setbacks proved too much to overcome, with Eric becoming the latest celebrity to leave the BBC competition.
Eric Underwood has been given the boot from Celebrity MasterChef (Credit: BBC)
Eric also surprised the judges when he admitted he was not naturally suited to working in a team.
Here is where it all went wrong.
Celebrity MasterChef 2026: Eric’s quarterfinal disasters
Four celebrities returned for the Heat 2 quarterfinal after Tom Simons’ exit. Eric, Emily Steel, Donna Preston and Nitin Ganatra were all competing for a place in the semi finals.
The first challenge split the celebrities into two teams. Giorgio reminded them that teamwork is a vital part of a professional kitchen.
Eric admitted: “I have to be honest, I don’t work well in teams. I don’t!”
Eric teamed up with Donna, while Emily cooked alongside Nitin. Each pair had 90 minutes to prepare a three course menu.
Eric and Donna enjoyed plenty of laughs in the kitchen, but the judges were less amused. Their dessert also hit trouble when half of their churros ended up in the bin.
Grace exclaimed: “She’s put them in the bin!” Giorgio pointed out that the team thought they were “too thin”. Grace replied: “It’s better to be too thin than non existent!”
Emily and Nitin won the challenge.
The second test saw guest chef Tom Kerridge challenge each celebrity with one of his comfort food recipes.
Eric was handed bangers and mash, which he admitted was “intimidating”. He had to make his own sausages and prepare a rich red onion gravy from scratch.
While his mashed potato impressed both Tom and the judges, the sausages fell short and the gravy proved to be his undoing.
Eric’s gravy was a fail with Giorgio Locatelli (Credit: BBC)
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