Gregg Wallace refuses to eat BBC Celebrity MasterChef dish after being served pink chicken

Detailing their second task of the episode, Wallace, 59, announced: "This is your opportunity to really shine!"

"What we want from you is two courses - a main course and a dessert that you would serve to your friends and family at a dinner party," Torode, 59, added.

He continued: "Something to truly impress, something to show off a little bit. At the end of this, we will only take four of you through to the next round - that does mean that one of you will be going home."

When it was time to showcase their dishes, Akbar faced a nightmare situation as it became clear the chicken Wallace had been presented with was significantly undercooked.

The comedian decided to cook a roast chicken dish for his main course, with the meat cooked in onions, ginger, cashews and chilli.

Complimenting the dish was a serving of rice infused with cardamom and clove with a cucumber, carrot and red onion salad.

Cutting open the chicken to reveal a very pink inside, Wallace commented: "We're a little bit pink in here..." before adding: "[It's] such a shame because your flavours are magnificent.

"There is a creamy, buttery sauce that's got layers of spicing - some warm, some bitter. The onions have a sweetness and the ones that are deliberately caught have a bitterness."

"It's delicious," Torode remarked. "The sauce is fantastic. My chicken is cooked, and I can eat it and it's really good."

The torn judge continued: "It's difficult because we've got two dishes we both love the flavour of. I can eat mine and Gregg can't."

"Sorry about the chicken," Akbar told the judges when the tasting was complete, to which Wallace replied: "I'm sorry for you."

Speaking to the cameras after, he stated: "I'm feeling alright, trying to focus on the positives, which was that they loved the flavours."

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Reflecting on the awkward incident, he admitted: "I can't believe I gave Gregg Wallace undercooked chicken twice in one day - that's going to haunt me forever."

This week's first episode also saw Gladiator and Team GB sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, actor Danielle Harold, actor Rochenda Sandall and reality star Chloe Burrows as well as Akbar hoping to win a place in this week's quarter-final.

For their first task, the celebrities had 60 minutes to create a dish that celebrated a secret ingredient they had selected from silver domes.

Last week's episode was the debut of the series and saw some backlash as fans fumed about what they deemed to be a lack of hygiene methods on the show.

Taking to X, some quizzed the show over Charlotte Crosby's nail extensions and the lack of hats or hair nets being worn.