Mo Farah has revealed that he will not now compete in a forthcoming series of Masterchef. The GB International is rumoured to have suffered a "devastating blow" to his confidence when he burnt some toast on returning home from a victorious outing at Saturday's Inter-Counties' Cross Country Championships. An insider told the Lufbra Echo, "Mo only wanted a light snack but it went disastrously wrong when he managed to set the fire alarms off." Farah had planned to prepare Lobster Soup followed by Braised Beef with Potato Gratin for his supper, the two dishes he had hoped to wow judges Greg Wallace and John Torode with in the contest.
A spokesman for the Somalian-born star refused to rule out a potential return to the kitchen in the future. "Mo has not given up on his dream. This is a massive set-back but it's not the end- he'll be back." Farah recently told of how he was prioritising his cooking in a bid to swipe the title later this year. "It means everything to me," he told The Times in January, "I stay up half the night sometimes practicing my dishes...when I'm really tired I just dream of how I will feel when I am the Champion. I get goosebumps just thinking about it."
However, it now seems that such hopes are all but over. Despite claims to the contrary, Farah was seen throwing his cooking utensils out of his Twickenham home. A neighbour said, "he looked so upset and just tossed a load of saucepans and the like on the floor...he then angrily threw a toaster down and stamped all over it before running back inside crying." The source concluded, "it is very sad to see someone like that- absolutely devastated. I hope he'll be OK."
The BBC have said that they were "saddened" to hear of Farah's withdrawal but promised that a line up including former Big Brother contestant Kinga Karolczak would be "hugely exciting". For their part, UK Athletics have said that they still expect Farah to compete at the World Cross Country Championships later this month.