UK Edition
Tearful British boy melts Spanish hearts after fish and chips flop on Junior Masterchef
An eight-year-old British boy who won over hearts in Spain with his cheerful personality while competing in the local edition of Junior Masterchef has earned waves of sympathy on Twitter after breaking down in tears during the cooking show's semi-final.
Oscar Jefferson, who could not speak a word of Spanish when he moved to the Costa del Sol two years ago with his family, made it all the way to the semi-final of the show but then his fish and chips dish did not come off quite as planned.
The young chef, known on the show as Jefferson to make it clear he is British, as his first name is popular in Spain, was meant to reproduce his grandfather's version of the British staple.
Pressure, however, got the better of him. First he dropped a jar of tartar sauce and then when he failed to finish the dish in time he burst into tears.
One of the judges tried to comfort the boy, but he appeared inconsolable as he said his performance had disappointed his grandfather.
"Don't worry about it, it's only cookery," Mr Jefferson, who flew to Spain from Warminster, Wiltshire, to make a surprise appearance on the show, told Oscar. "It's not life and death, don't worry."
Messages of support started pouring in on social media for the young chef after he was eliminated at the end of the episode.
Oscar was cooking the following night for guests of Simon Manley, the British ambassador to Madrid, along with the Spanish chef Marcos Morán, who runs the Hispania restaurant in the City of London.
"Oscar has been a great ambassador for Britain by becoming the first British boy to go on Spanish Masterchef and speak the language," Mr Manley told The Times.
"At one stage they spoke to him in English but he replied, ‘Why don’t you speak to me in Spanish?’."
Oscar, who was voted out by judges in the second round of the show but voted back in by fans who named him the contestant they most wanted to see return, took to Twitter himself to thank the show for the "unforgettable experience".
"I really feel at home here in Spain with all my friends," he said, before adding "the show must go on."