The grand final of MasterChef Celebrity 8 on TVE marked the end of three months of intense competition in the kitchen. Toñi Moreno, Álvaro Muñoz Escassi, Daniel Illescas and Laura Londoño, the four candidates who have survived over a dozen weeks, have fought for the coveted title of champion.
The first challenge presented was the test of following the chef, a classic task in MasterChef. Jordi Roca, from El Celler de Can Roca, introduced an impressive dessert that the finalists had to replicate to the beat of his instructions.
However, what should have been a test of skill and precision became an even greater challenge due to Roca's condition, cervical dystonia. Even Pepe Rodríguez commented during the test that he was very concerned about how the pastry chef's instructions were going to be understood.
The chef himself has commented on more than one occasion what his struggle has been like and the various techniques he has used to manage his condition, including vocal re-education and meditation. Although he has managed to recover his speech, he still has difficulty speaking correctly.
Cervical dystonia, which causes involuntary muscle contractions and spasms in the neck, complicated communication between Roca and the contestants. Those who most evidenced these difficulties were Daniel Illescas, who knew how to overcome it, and Toñi Moreno, who lost track of step by step and was in tow for much of the test. In fact, the program subtitled the El Celler pastry chef.
These circumstances did not go unnoticed by viewers, who expressed their concern and astonishment at the decision to include Roca in a challenge that depended largely on oral communication: "Putting Jordi Roca in a test in which you have to follow instructions by voice knowing the problem it has is having bad temper for both parties at the very least".
Others wondered how the contestants managed to follow Roca's instructions despite his condition: "What I don't know is how they manage to listen to him, because I don't know anything." They have also indicated that, if they found themselves in this same situation, they would dedicate themselves to nodding "because I wouldn't understand him even if he repeated it to me 50 times."
