Michel Roux Jr: Stealing prawns? That's shellfish!

Judge Michel Roux Jr aims to avoid the scandal that recently rocked its French equivalent when MasterChef: The Professionals returns to BBC2 on Monday, November 4.

Top Chef hit the headlines when Naoelle d’Hainaut, who went on to win, stole a bowl of prawns from a fellow contestant.

“She was quite brazen about it,” said a shocked Michel, whose ancestry means he takes a close interest in French cookery. “Naoelle got away with it, produced an absolutely stunning dish and showed no remorse. She’s been pilloried by her fellow chefs, and on social media, but she’s a winner.”

Have there been any instances of bending the rules in Michel's’s own MasterChef kitchen? “There are certain ingredients that chefs will ask to bring in, and there’s a bit of leeway on their classic dish, because they have limited time to prepare it,” he reveals.

“However on a couple of occasions chefs have tried to bring in finished sauces, and that is not allowed. We take those away from them. They cannot bring in finished items.”