A professional golfer from Kent has been eliminated from the semi-finals of MasterChef.

James Skelton, 38, from Bearsted, described the experience on the hit BBC cooking show as "amazing," despite failing to impress the judges on last night's invention test.

In the latest challenge, the contestants were asked to create a dish using either a chicken or an egg – the first of two knockout tasks during episode 17.

The home cook, previously praised for his traditionally "skilful" British dishes took inspiration from Asian cuisine as he made a chicken katsu curry.

The father-of-two was determined to rectify what judge John Torode described as a "wobble" on the previous episode, where he mis-timed his tempered chocolate spheres with hazelnut ice cream.

The "quietly confident" golfer got to work, as he prepared the breaded chicken and created his sauce in a bid to win the favour of the judges.

This time around the judges were not swayed.

Judge Gregg Wallace said: “Your rice has gone a little bit gloopy, and is sticking together a little bit."

John added: "Your chicken is starting to dry out and your crumb hasn’t got any texture on it.

"It’s not crunchy, and with sauce like this you need to blend it and make it fine, until you can't see that veg.

"You want the flavour of it, but you don't want to see it."

The golfer was shown the door, though it was all smiles from the man who said he "loved every minute".

As he exited the competition, he said: "I look back at my time as a MasterChef very fondly.

"It’s an amazing experience. I loved every minute of it, but this is where the journey ends for me."

James has plans of hosting golf and cooking tours, where he can take groups abroad and enjoy his two favourite pastimes.

The MasterChef show continues to heat up as the final six competitors battle in one last challenge for a place in finals week.

The final three will get the dream chance to take on a chef’s table challenge at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London.

enown for his classic style of cooking which John referred to as "understated in its appearance but really complex in its technique."