Waikato cooks top and tailed the latest episode of Masterchef last night after Hamilton hospitality worker Raheel Kerr was the latest to duck out of the reality cooking show.

It's safe to say the 27-year-old lost any mates she may have had among the contestants the second she told the judges she didn't know if she wanted to be there.

"You're telling me, out of all the people that we've turned away from being in this competition, you don't know whether you want to be here? That's what you want to tell the whole of New Zealand right now, who are looking and saying: ‘That girl has taken somebody's spot'," asked the usually optimistic judge Simon Gault.

"I think there were more deserving people," Kerr said.

It was a shock statement from Kerr, but it did come after a particularly trying task - dealing to an entire Peking duck.

An attempt to tower her twice-cooked duck atop a five-spice, pea rice column failed abysmally.

"I'm always looking for the good in a dish . . . and the good in this dish for me is that it's kinda like yesterday's fried rice that somebody's made and it wasn't that great, and you've heated it up," Gault said.

As if the rack of ducks hanging by their beaks wasn't a big enough shock, Kerr was forced to battle it out in an ultimate test of basic culinary skills with Kris Williams and David Jamieson.

The results were close. Surprisingly, Kerr managed to attract a couple of supporters at the end - even if it was out of pity.

Speaking after the show, Kerr said she was surprised that she had gotten so far in the competition.

"Cooking to a tight timeframe is really stressful and it's much harder work than the public realise."

Kerr, who is now working in hospitality in Hamilton, said appearing on the show had been an eye-opener.

"I just didn't want the stress of it, in the end. It was an awesome experience, but I wouldn't do it again."

Meanwhile, Raglan contestant Aaron Brunet, who is quickly emerging as a favourite of the judges, again walked away the clear winner (even if he was announced among a group of four).

- © Fairfax NZ News