Sundae Roast: No hablo espanol

Sam Henderson, Cameron Petley and Michelle Berry face the judges.

If you're anything like me, you're a complete hypocrite.

I like to project a purist credibility about Masterchef. I say it's all about the food, that the competition is all important and what the contestants have on the plate when Simon Gault barks out "STEP AWAY FROM YOUR BENCH!" is what they're judged on.

I've criticised the show when it veered toward the farcical, I was apocalyptic when a previous season of Masterchef Australia appeared to fudge the judging to keep a favourite in, and the unpleasant taste in all our mouths following last week's ill-advised supermarket set-up is now a matter of public record.

Tonight however, even if Cameron Petley had cooked the worst dish I'd have wanted him to stay.

The promise of a fairytale ending - probably the wrong phrase to use for a hunter/gatherer - is just too strong.

I had a feeling tonight might be the night when Petley's reign of terror (from the other contestants point of view) might come to an end. It started when Josh Emett confirmed what the hopefuls had suspected all week.

"And it's a double elimination," he said before adding "which means after today's challenge two of you will be going home."

Yep, I grasped that by "double elimination".

The mood in the kitchen changed when the special guest was announced, one P. Gordon from Wanganui. I was excited - I worked at his flagship London restaurant The Providores for a year - but not compared to Tracey Lee Hooton, who threw her head back so far she almost head-butted the bench behind her before exploding into applause so manic it was reminiscent of Beatlemania. I suspected she had heard of him.

"He's like the Rachel Hunter of the food world," she enthused. I'm leaving that one alone.

Meanwhile, Nadia Lim continues to ensure her fans don't get an easy ride. She pushes boundaries all right, this time turning 20 into 30. Gault of course gets all serious and Lim is in tears. What's his problem, he's always bleating on about giving an extra 5% magic, and here she was giving 50%.

Meat martyr Michelle was not only struggling with her vegetarian dish - a requirement for one of the four tapas - she seemed out of her depth on anything Spanish at all. Chefs Gault and Gordon exchanged the sort of glances that contestants wouldn't be pleased to see. Appearing to have red eyes during her narrative interview wasn't boding well either.

Things couldn't have been more different over at Traceylee's table. She gushed as Peter Gordon told her she should ditch her husband for not liking smoked paprika, and from the look on her face, I think she was considering it.

Another cook having a good day was Fiona. Although I'm clearly obsessed with Cameron and Nadia, she'd be my third pick and like the judges I've been waiting for her to shine. If Peter Gordon says he'd be happy to serve your tapas in his restaurant, then you have definitely shone.

I'm sad to say I haven't tried out any of the recipes this season yet (aside from Ray McVinnie's tomato sauce which I've made twice this week) but Fiona's dishes may have to be my first.

After a feel good moment - Traceylee proving her stuff in front of a chef she is clearly obsessed by - it was Cameron before the cauldron.

"I knew deep down that the flavours weren't right," he admitted. I started to get very worried.

Two favourites - mine anyway - in the bottom four just proves what the contestants keep saying. It only takes one bad day in the office.

Of course, Cameron didn't go, he scraped through as Sam and Michelle were sent packing. Despite my earlier admission I do think Cameron's dishes were better than the other two - as much as you can tell from what they look like of course.

But if Cameron's dishes had been in the bottom two, would the judges have had the cojones to send the favourite home?

I'm just glad Cameron's bad day came now, and not closer to the end when the distance to fall would have been so much greater.

Episode 6

Best line: "The closest I've ever been to Spain is Kaitaia." Sam Henderson
Worst line: "Will it be muy bien or hasta la vista, baby?"
Gault keeps hammering out the fruits of those night classes.
Current favourites: Cameron Petley, Nadia Lim