Tracy falls at the third to join the Cooke who can’t cook

For those of us who like our cookery programme, what better combination than putting celebs through their paces in the kitchen.

It’s hard to say why certain programmes are popular with audiences but one thing for sure is that the novelty of any idea wears thin after a while, which is probably why the odd Celebrity version is made to pique our interest.

Unlike the other reality show on TV3 involving celebs in a jungle, it is not the public who decide who goes but the two judges, in this case Nick Munier and Dylan McGrath.

That meant of course that the two brimming with personality with little or no cooking skills got booted out first, comedian Gary Cooke and a model and broadcaster, Kamal Ibrahim.

Though I appreciate that contestants have to be booted out to find a winner, it is funnier watching people making a mess and Cooke definitely didn't live up to his surname and gave us a few laughs. And poor Kamal, I would say, never had to cook for himself in his life. The expressions on his face as he heard culinary descriptions for the first time proved this, God love him. He was very likeable though and, I suspect, he may have caught the cooking bug after his short time on this show.

That left the more serious contestants, ones who really want to win the title.

On Sunday, the third in the series, it was desserts, not my own strong point, and as well as recreating a dessert made by the guest pastry chef, Claire Clarke from the French Laundry restaurant, they also had to make a dessert that was a nod to their childhood.

Most of them admitted they rarely had desserts when they were children but they were inventive enough and gave us viewers some new ideas.

It’s probably not surprising that the 400m sprinter, Dave Gillick, is so competitive but I believe he could be our winner.

His biggest competition is Maia Dunphy, another broadcaster who recently gave us a documentary about how much wine women consume.

Married to comedian Johnny Vegas, she has obviously been practising a lot in the kitchen in preparation for the Masterchef challenge.

Yvonne Keating, ex-wife of Ronan and apparently a woman of leisure, admitted from the start that she doesn’t really cook but she seems to be thriving.

Newsreader Aengus Mac Grianna is a nifty little cook and seems to be enjoying every minute of it.

Galway native, Conor Pope, a consumer journalist with The Irish Times, comes across as very earnest and despite his loud protestations, he is still in the competition.

Sports journalist Tracy Piggot handed in her apron on Sunday night, not surprisingly. Though she appeared to have some cooking skills, her presentation let her down every time but so too, I suspect, did her attitude. I got the feeling she gelled least with the rest of the group and that the judges didn’t like her, but I could be wrong. That’s part of the enjoyment of watching Masterchef -- watching how the contestants perform under pressure and time constraints. And there’s the added pressure of being filmed and closely watched while cooking.

Claire Clark was very kind and appeared to like everything they made. The contestants showed their humanity by being genuinely thrilled when Claire praised them. Yeah, even celebs are human!

This group are not bad cooks at all. And Maia could almost work in a professional kitchen. Claire suggested she could work in hers.

Unlike previous Celebrity Masterchef from the UK, our own celebs are not throwing tantrums or playing to the gallery and they  appear to appreciate the opportunity of picking up a few new skills.

The programme makers have just finished looking for contestants drawn from the general public for an Autumn series. I wasn’t tempted because though I love cooking, I don’t have the patience for precision and presentation. My style is more rustic, which wouldn’t go down well on Masterchef.

It continues for another three Sundays on RTE 1 at 9.30pm.