Dessert Masters star responds to claims his on-screen disaster was 'fake'

Dessert Masters contestant Morgan Hipworth has revealed the truth behind the surprising moment his dish accidentally caught on fire with just 10 minutes left on the clock.

Viewers were shocked during last week’s premiere episode when Morgan’s mango lemon myrtle cheesecake with white chocolate petals suddenly went up in flames when he used freeze spray too close to the gas stove.

While some people speculated on social media that the disaster was “staged” and “fake”, the 22-year-old pastry chef tells Yahoo Lifestyle that what happened on TV was “very much real”.

“I feel like as a viewer, you're always a bit sceptical like, is the time real? And it very much is,” he shares.

“When my entire dish set on fire with like, 10 minutes to go, I remember looking up and I was kind of like to the producers, what do I do now? I just remember being like, no one's saying anything, no one's helping me, s**t, I need to sort something out.”

RELATED:

• Kirsten Tibballs' surprising confession about joining Dessert Masters

• MasterChef's Emelia Jackson reveals why she said 'no' to Dessert Masters

• Dessert Masters fans react to tense confrontation after judge calls dish 'trash'

Morgan explains that there was a reason the gas stove had been turned on while he was decorating his dish which wasn’t actually shown on-air.

“What happened was, the way you stick the petals down is you have melted chocolate and then you use cool spray to freeze that to the plate so it stays on there,” he details.

“Some of the melted chocolate had dripped onto the edge of the plate so I was just trying to clean that up, and obviously that chocolate set. So I had my gas stove on and I was heating my knife over the gas stove to create a hot knife that would then be able to scrape the chocolate off the plate.

“So that's what was happening. I was cleaning up the chocolate on the edge of my plate and then one of my petals fell off, so I grabbed a bit more of the melted chocolate, tried to stick it down, and then that's when that gas stove was still on because I was trying to do two things at once.”

'Very intense'

Morgan describes his stint on Dessert Masters as a “full 360 moment” after he had applied to be on the first season of Junior MasterChef in 2010 but didn’t make it past the audition process.

“If I had been told 15 years ago that I would be here today, I definitely would have laughed and not believed it at all,” he remarks.

“I grew up watching Zumbo on the original MasterChef and I've got photos of him and I when I was like 13 doing courses with him and things like that, so to be on par and considered in the same level and same league as these guys is amazing.”

SHOP:

• Black Friday 2023: Save up to 50% in The Oodie's massive sale

• Black Friday 2023: Save up to 50% on top beauty and skincare brands

• Black Friday 2023: Save up to 55% on mattresses, bedding and homewares

After being sent home during Sunday night’s elimination, Morgan says he’d love to return to the MasterChef kitchen in the near future now that he has "a much better idea" of what to expect.

“I’ll be honest, looking back at it it was a very intense period filming and it was hard and it was hard work trying to come up with the dishes on the spot,” he shares.

“And I think that's also why you see people like Reynold [Poernomo] doing so well because they've got this experience. They know what to expect from the challenges, they know how the judges think, and they know what they're looking for.

“So I think if I was to go back and do it again I’ve got a much better idea about what does and what doesn’t work, and I would like to think that that would make the whole experience maybe a little less stressful and a little more enjoyable.”

Dessert Masters continues Sunday – Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10 Play

Never miss a thing. Sign up to Yahoo Lifestyle’s daily newsletter.

Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@yahooinc.com.