Joe Swash, the well-known actor and television presenter, recently found himself under fire after his behavior on the popular show Celebrity MasterChef. The 39-year-old, hailing from London and celebrated for his charming, cheeky persona, gained widespread recognition as Mickey Miller on EastEnders.

However, his recent antics on the culinary competition left viewers less than impressed. Swash, a father of two, was criticized for making disparaging remarks about his fellow contestants’ cooking, labeling their dishes as “a mess” and “bad.”

The reaction from the audience was swift and harsh, with many branding him as “arrogant,” “rude,” and “graceless.” One disgruntled viewer expressed their disapproval, commenting, “How rude is Joe Swash! Pointing fingers and saying that someone else did rubbish so he’s okay.”

The controversy unfolded during the show’s “Under the Cloche” challenge, where each participant was tasked with creating a dish from a given ingredient. Swash received pigeon, while his co-competitor, Will Kirk, known from The Repair Shop, was challenged to work with chickpeas, which he paired with chicken.

Joe Swash has been branded ‘arrogant’ and ‘rude’ after mocking his fellow Celebrity MasterChef contestants

For the first ‘Under the Cloche’ challenge, contestants were each given an ingredient to create a dish with, with Joe being given pigeon while fellow contestant Will Kirk (star of The Repair Shop) was given chickpeas which he served with chicken.

Despite other contestants being supportive of one another and saying they were ‘all did a good job’ after the first challenge Joe told Will: ‘Because your chicken was so bad, I feel like there’s no pressure’.

In a second challenge, the contestants were asked to recreate Jamaican street food dish Escovitch fish and festival dumplings.

While judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace praised actress Melissa Johns dish, Joe disparaged his fellow contestants, writing: ‘I looked around and there were some right messes on the plate, mine was decent’.   

For the first ‘Under the Cloche’ challenge, contestants were each given an ingredient to create a dish with, with Joe being given pigeon while fellow contestant Will Kirk (star of The Repair Shop, pictured) was given chickpeas which he served with chicken. Despite other contestants being supportive of one another and saying they were ‘all did a good job’ after the first challenge Joe told Will: ‘Because your chicken was so bad, I feel like there’s no pressure’.

Viewers branded him ‘graceless,’ ‘nasty’ and ‘exhausting to watch’ with one writing: ‘How rude is Joe Swash! Pointing fingers and saying that someone else did rubbish so he’s okay’

On the third challenge, contestants were tasked with making a dish of their choice, with judges praising Joe’s lamb kofta with tzatziki while they were less favourable towards Will’s duck which was undercooked.

‘As long as I’m not the worst review I’m happy. Will did another bit of raw meat, he dug us all out of a hole hasn’t he,’ Joe said through laughter.

Viewers were left seething at Joe’s comments, with one writing: ‘There’s no need to be so nasty about another contestant’s effort.’

‘Joe Swash mocking Will for not cooking his duck properly is not nice,’ added another.

The actor and presenter, 39, who is known for his ‘cheeky chappy’ persona, won the hearts of the nation playing Mickey Miller in EastEnders. But last night, viewers were left seething after the father-of-two called fellow contestant’s dishes ‘a mess’ and ‘bad’

‘I never had a particular opinion about Joe Swash but seeing him being so nasty about the other contestants has given me one! Not nice at all,’ wrote a third.

A fourth penned: ‘ Was thinking Joe Swash was quite funny, but two digs at a fellow contestant… hope he goes home next. Not deserving. Not funny.’.

At the end of the episode, Will left the show with Joe joining contestants Katie Price,  Melissa Johns and Dion Dublin to advance to the next round.

On advancing to the next round, Joe added: ‘Stacey and the kids will definitely be happy for me. But they’ll be surprised. Thing is, they have terrible palates, They don’t appreciate what’s put on the plate’.