A writer from Norwich was left in tears after missing out on a place in the MasterChef quarter-final.

Samantha, who owns an Arabian horse magazine, left the BBC One competition last night after failing to impress the judges with her lamb dish which some described as looking like 'Sunday dinner'.

The 42-year-old, who has five cats and seven horses, made it through the market challenge round after serving lemon sole with hasselback potatoes, fennel and courgettes.

Gregg Wallace said the butter on the fish was 'really nice' and John Torode said some of her flavours were 'very good'.

The next round saw the remaining chefs cook two courses for former MasterChef finalists.

Samantha served the trio a cannon of lamb with parmentier potatoes, tenderstem broccoli, baby carrots and a port sauce followed by a stem ginger and pear pudding with butterscotch sauce.

Jack Lucas, who was a finalist in 2014, said 'the only thing that stands out on this plate of food is the lamb' and added 'if you took the lamb away and put chicken on there it would be a bit more of a Sunday roast, dare I say it, than a MasterChef dish.

Gregg agreed adding: 'The potatoes aren't crispy enough, the broccoli needs trimming, the carrots need peeling. It looks a little bit like somebody's Sunday dinner.'

The judges were more impressed with the second course. 2016 champion Jane Devonshire said the pudding was 'really lovely to eat' and Jack described the butterscotch sauce as 'amazing'.

But it was not enough to see Samantha through to the next round and she had to hang up her MasterChef apron.

'It is tough to be leaving for sure,' she said. 'I think this has been an amazing experience, it takes you to the edge of your dreams and beyond. When I have stopped crying later I will be really chuffed with myself.

• MasterChef continues tonight on BBC One at 9pm.