HEARTBROKEN: MasterChef presenter suffers a “nightmare” accident just minutes after starting, as medical staff had to intervene.

Celebrity MasterChef’s Sue Cleaver Hit by ‘Nightmare’ Accident Minutes Into BBC Cooking Debut

Sue Cleaver’s Celebrity MasterChef debut got off to a painful start after the former Coronation Street star cut her finger just minutes into her first challenge and needed help from a member of the production team.

The BBC competition returned on Tuesday, September 1, for the third and final week of heats, with Cleaver joining Melvin Odoom, Una Healy, Lauren Steadman and Max Fosh in the kitchen.

Cleaver had been looking forward to taking part after watching MasterChef for years and admitted she had “always fancied giving it a go.”

But almost as soon as the cooking began, things went wrong.

She was preparing a date, chickpea and pine nut pilaf with lamb kofta when she accidentally cut her finger.

“Plaster already, cut myself!” Cleaver joked after the mishap. “That didn’t take long, did it.”

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Sue Cleaver Left Panicking After Early Mishap

A crew member was then seen helping Cleaver by putting a plaster on her finger while the actress continued to laugh about what had happened.

“I did nearly cut my finger off. It’s only day one!” she said.

Despite making light of the incident, Cleaver admitted to judges Giorgio Locatelli and Grace Dent that the accident had immediately added to her nerves.

“I’m panicking a bit, I’ve cut myself already,” she told them.

The knife responsible for the mishap also had some personal significance.

Cleaver retrieved it and explained that it was a special knife her son had bought specifically for her.

Giorgio quickly recognised what she was using, telling her: “That’s a Japanese knife, that’s a very sharp one!”

The injury did not end Cleaver’s time in the competition, but it caused problems later when she was faced with another demanding kitchen task.

While trying to debone a fish, she struggled to remove the bones and blamed her injured finger for making the job even harder.

“I can’t get them out. My finger is not helping me,” she said.

“There are thousands of them. It’s a nightmare.”

It was a difficult start for the actress, but the setback ultimately did not prevent her from making a strong impression on the judges.

Difficult Start Ends With MasterChef Success

After completing the opening challenges, Cleaver was awarded the MasterChef pin by Giorgio and Grace.

The reward gives her a valuable 10-minute advantage in the next challenge, which Giorgio warned would be “much harder.”

Both judges agreed that Cleaver had earned the advantage despite the problems she encountered during her first day.

“She deserved it,” Giorgio said.

“She really did,” Grace agreed, before Giorgio added: “Fair and square.”

Cleaver’s eventful appearance came as Celebrity MasterChef continues its new era with Giorgio and Grace at the helm.

Giorgio made his debut on the programme last month, and early reaction from viewers has been positive.

One viewer wrote that the “new format and chef” were working well, while another said they were enjoying Giorgio and Grace presenting together.

Others described the pairing as refreshing, with one viewer saying the new duo had even convinced them to start watching the show again.

For Cleaver, however, the opening episode proved considerably more dramatic than she might have expected.

Within minutes she had injured her finger, needed assistance and found herself struggling through a later challenge.

Yet by the end of the episode, she had turned that difficult beginning around and walked away with one of the competition’s most useful early advantages.