What a dish! Masterchef contestant Alice Taylor revealed as a former Miss Swansea

By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 7:16 PM on 28th February 2011

Fans of Masterchef are in for a double treat, as it emerged that one contestant is a former beauty queen.

Pretty blonde Alice Taylor made headlines in her native Wales last year when she became the first single mother to qualify for the final of a UK beauty contest when she became a finalist in the Miss Great Britain pageant.

The 24-year-old Miss Swansea wasn’t crowned, but now she has her sights set on a different sort of headwear – a chef’s hat.

Turning up the heat: Masterchef contestant Alice Taylor is a former beauty queen

Alice is currently competing on the BBC cooking series, which is four episodes into its seventh season.

The
model, who has a two-year-old son and is stepmother to her fiancé
Chris’s daughter, eight, isn’t just a pretty face and a whiz in the
kitchen – she also has a degree in business administration.

In
an interview with Wales Online, she said: ‘I only started the modelling
thing eight months ago as a bit of an ego boost really and I’ve had a
lot of opportunities through winning Miss Swansea, but food is my first
love.

Not just a pretty face: Masterchef contestant Alice Taylor is a former Miss Swansea and has a degree in business administration

‘I started cooking because my partner, Chris, was just terrible when I
first met him. He would be constantly serving up baked beans to Charlie
because that’s all he could cook and I decided that was just terrible.

‘When
we go out to eat I tend to take a pad of paper and a pen. I write down
any tips I can pick up, even the way the waiters work and how the food
is presented. There’s a sense of theatre in restaurants which I love.

‘I’d love to work in a restaurant but that is something we have put on the back burner for now.’

Whiz in the kitchen: The 24-year-old is currently competing in the seventh series

From crown to chef’s hat: Alice has her sights set on the final

The new season of Masterchef has caused controversy after a format revamp that is understood to be modelled on the X Factor.

Viewers accused the corporation of dumbing down the programme by turning it into a ‘hideous’ X Factor-style competition.

They are particularly incensed by new talent show-type auditions in which aspiring chefs have to cook in front of judges for a place in the competition.

They also dislike the ‘silly and humiliating’ staged sequences which feature gushing interviews with family and friends. A new look set was described as having a ‘creepy nightclub vibe’.

Around 20,000 applied to take part in the latest series and producers selected the best to ‘audition’ in front of judges – chef John Torode and former grocer Gregg Wallace – for just 20 places.

Viewers watched on Wednesday as hopefuls attempted to cook under pressure before displaying their dishes in front of the judges who were sat on a bench akin to the X Factor panel.

Viewers condemned the programme, which was first made famous by Loyd Grossman and originally focused on the culinary excellence.

Controversy: Viewers accused the BBC of dumbing down the new season of Masterchef by turning it into a ‘hideous’ X Factor-style competition

One said: ‘This show is now bordering on the ridiculous. I am at a loss to understand why the BBC has decided to change the format of a programme which was already so popular. Do they think we are all refugees from The X Factor?’ Another said: ‘I half expected Cheryl Cole to come on and join Gregg and John.’

‘All the reasons it was a delight have been destroyed,’ said another angry fan.
Contestants required a yes from both judges to get through to the main competition, but if the judges disagreed they were allowed a ‘lifeline’ and given a second chance to impress.

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