STRICTLY Come Dancing star Vito Coppola has been crowned the winner of Celebrity MasterChef 2024 after an emotional final round.
The dancer beat out Line Of Duty’s Rochenda Sandall and This Morning’s Craig Doyle to take home the trophy.
5
Vito used his family heritage to bring a unique twist to his cooking.
As he was declared the Celebrity MasterChef 2024 winner by John Torode and Gregg Wallace, Rochenda and Craig beamed with delight and shed tears as they congratulated him.
“I cannot believe it!” he beamed, holding the trophy over his head. “Look, it’s so beautiful!”
“Vito came into this competition with a purpose,” said Torode on the final decision to make Vito this year’s champion.
READ MORE CELEB MASTERCHEF
“He wanted to show us his life on a plate, what he’s grown up with, the food he loves, and why he loves it, and what he’s done is he’s made us love it too. That’s what good food’s all about.”
“People think that food is just food, but no, I keep saying food is life that never will leave me alone,” said Vito after his win.
“It’s the first love of my life, food, and I cannot just wait to share all of this with my family.”
He then phoned his parents back in his native Italy to share the happy news.
Fans were delighted at the reveal, sharing on X they thought the star deserved to win.
“Vito Campione! #CelebrityMasterChef and #Strictly too, well deserved and I couldn’t be happier for him,” wrote one.
“So so happy for Vito the most amazing winner ever,” noted another.
As a third celebrated, they wrote: “Congratulations @Vito__Coppola We were cheering for you right from the start! Absolutely fabulous!!”
While a fourth said: “Over the moon for @Vito__Coppola – he showcased Italian cuisine to perfection, had his family with him all the way & deserved it. What a series!”
In the finale episode, Vito, Rochenda and Craig were tasked with creating their ultimate dinner party menu – coming up with a main course and a dessert to show off their creativity, technique, and presentation.
For main, Vito made seafood handmade basil, parmesan and pecorino pasta with prawns, clams, mussels and squid served in a tomato and chili sauce,
For his dessert, Vito served a rum baba, one half only soaked in rum syrup, while the other half was also topped with zabaione, a masala wine cream, cherries and syrup.
John Torode told him: “Throughout this competition, the love for your family and food has shone through all the way.
“I love what you’ve delivered. I think your flavour is fantastic, and you should be really pleased with what you’ve done.”
Beaming with the praise, he later told cameras: “I feel happy. I feel that I spread love.”
5
5
5