OXFORDSHIRE’S contestant in this year’s Masterchef The Professionals has left the competition, having made it to the final week of the show.

Dave Wells, former chef patron at the Fat Frog in Aston Tirrold near Didcot, was sent home from the contest in the episode aired on BBC One on Tuesday night.

The dad-of-four had wowed the judges in his early rounds, and last week impressed again with his innovative take on Chinese crispy Peking duck pancakes.

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But up against stiff competition this week, he came undone when his bouillabaisse was deemed too salty, and his reinvented black forest gateau didn’t quite hit the mark.

Herald Series: Didcot chef Dave Wells produced this bouillabaisse in his last episode of Masterchef the Professionals 2020. Picture: BBCDidcot chef Dave Wells produced this bouillabaisse in his last episode of Masterchef the Professionals 2020. Picture: BBC

Dave Wells' bouillabaisse. Picture: BBC

However the judges made it clear they were sad to see him leave.

Giving him the bad news, judge Gregg Wallace added: "Before you go, we all want to say, you've got a big heart and you put a lot of effort into this - thank you very much indeed."

Mr Wells said it had been a pleasure and wished the remaining contestants good luck.

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He entered the competition and started filming this summer, when he was still running the Fat Frog restaurant at the Chequers pub.

However, in the autumn, following the struggles of running the business during the pandemic, he decided to close it down.

He has since said that he is looking to start running a kitchen in Oxfordshire again as soon as possible.

In the meantime, he said he was hoping to start marketing a tomato sauce which Masterchef judge Marcus Wareing was particularly impressed by.