Photo: Network Ten 

Once thought to be invincible, Jonathan Daddia’s sudden exit from MasterChef has again thrown fans of the show. It follows last week’s elimination of favourite Marion Grasby.

The 33-year-old IT consultant’s run came to an end with a highly technical dish of spice-roasted squab pigeon with a turnip cake that took two hours and 55 ingredients to recreate.

At first Daddia misread the challenge recipe, mistakenly carving off the breasts; then after attempting not to overcook the squab, the judges found him to have done the exact opposite. After they said he’d served up the meat slightly raw, Daddia exclaimed “that was the one thing that I thought was fine".

"I'm shocked, because I felt that you were Teflon," judge Matt Preston told him.  

Daddia has spoken out against his bad-boy image, claiming it was a concoction from the program’s editing suite. He has said “the funny thing has been meeting people who talk to me then say, ‘You’re not what I expected, you’re nice.’”

Of being told he was going home, Jonathan said “It's like being stabbed in the heart".But he says his time in the MasterChef kitchen had been an "epiphany" and hardened his resolve to open his own French bistro.