Gemma Collins mistakes chillies for cranberries during hilarious MasterChef dessert challenge

Gemma Collins caused Gregg Wallace to shriek in alarm after he bit into her Sticky Figgy pudding during the Celebrity MasterChef Christmas special on Thursday.

The former TOWIE star, 40, accidentally swapped cranberries for chillies in her Sticky Figgy pudding after admitting: ‘I can’t bear recipes. I like to be a free spirited cook.’

As the TV chef broke open her masterpiece during the judging stage, it wasn’t long before he suspiciously asked: ‘Have you put chilies on here as well?’

An adamant Gemma replied: ‘No, they’re cranberries.’

Gregg soon roared: ‘Woah! That’s a chilli,’ before The GC covered her mouth as she burst into laughter: ‘Maybe the brandy had got to me!’

Her British Sticky Figgy pudding had been served with a mouth-watering shot of clementine, chilli and ginger, along with a festive dusting of edible glitter.

Despite the mishap, the former greengrocer admitted: ‘Your sponge isn’t too dry at all. It’s nice and moist and it’s light. I love your butterscotch sauce.

‘Putting brandy in there, I think, is inspired. Absolutely lovely. Your praline is a little too thick. The red chilli that you thought was cranberry was a little bit too much.’

Following the encounter, she said to the camera: ‘Being in the MasterChef kitchen now, I’m a lot more confident. The mixer, the sticks kept falling off.

‘This time, I’m just like, “It’s Christmas huns, let’s not stress. Sprinkle the glitter, what could go wrong?’

Eventually, Reverend Richard Coles was crowned the winner, after competing against Gemma, TV Presenter Joe Swash, actor and entertainer Les Dennis, and singer Mica Paris.

After the initial surprise at his win, The said: ‘I am absolutely delighted, this is wonderful.

‘I think the parish will want to take the whisk in procession around the town where the towns people will come out and fall to their knees and worship the historic and holy golden whisk of MasterChef.’

Gregg said: ‘Reverend Richard Coles worked really hard to bring as much of the Christmas story into his plates of food which was really clever.

‘It was absolutely beautiful cookery with a bit of fun. Every single mouthful just screamed out Christmas.’

John Torode added: ‘A festive feast needs to be fun, it needs to put a smile on your face, it needs to be delicious and Richard did that. It was clever, ambitious, interesting and delicious.’

His winning Christmas-themed menu, which he created in just two hours 15 minutes, started with a roast partridge with a caramelized pear, cabbage, celeriac, chestnut and lardons with bread sauce, pear gravy and five gold ring potatoes.

Richard then presented Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh blancmanges topped with honeycomb, pistachio and liquorice crumb.

The final challenge followed the infamous invention test where the group had to recreate and embellish a Christmas recipe from somewhere around the world from ingredients and equipment found in a Secret Santa present box.

Richard’s dish was authentic to Japan with fried chicken.

During her previous appearance on the show in 2018, Gemma ordered the professionals around, doing as little as possible while claiming: ‘I need to be the boss.’

Talking to one of the chefs, Gemma said: ‘Do you want to put that in the oven for me hun’? Ooh, someone get me fish out!’ she demanded.

She then revealed that she felt completely at ease in the heat of the moment, admitting: ‘I feel like I’ve got this right under control in the kitchen now.’

‘I think if I worked in a kitchen I’d need to be like where this man’s standing’ explained the blonde bombshell, as she pointed at the head chef, before turning behind her and impatiently requesting: ‘The fish, the fish!’

And, in true GC style, the reality star didn’t fail to deliver a range of perfect TV soundbites and shockingly awful culinary concoctions.

‘Who knows? I could be the next Nigella!’ suggested Gemma, despite her ‘chick pea stew,’ her crab-meat-filled mango, and her meal of chicken thighs served with an omelette, not wowing the judges by any stretch of the imagination.