Food, flirting and frustration stole the show as Telford hosted Come Dine With Me.

The Channel Four show sees four competitive amateur cooks go head-to-head hosting dinner parties before marking each other out of 10 in the hope of winning a £1,000 prize.

Last night’s episode landed in Shropshire, and saw its four hosts attempt to channel the spirit of Jamie Oliver by impressing at their dinner parties.

Opening cook Donna Daly smacked more of Nigella Lawson, however, as she attempted to flirt her way to the grand prize, kicking off the week with a man-pleasing menu of lamb shanks and beer-based soup.

And after a night spent squeezing catering manager Ian Carter, a former professional chef, she turned her attention to self-proclaimed ‘smartest man they’ll ever meet’ Adam Hurlin on future nights, and attempted to stick the boot in having got her party out of the way.

The hands-on approach taken by married Donna soon frustrated the remaining host, Sarah Ashley-Ruff, who clearly grew increasingly frustrated with her rival’s attempts to hog the limelight.

The consultant manager took a competitive approach to the competition, and was quickly irritated by Donna’s flirty behaviour, her opening night tap dancing routine, and her over-cooked dauphinoise potatoes.

Eventually, the prize was taken by Ian Carter, who had earlier been compared to 1970s comedian Benny Hill and introduced himself to his fellow contestants with a series of bawdy jokes.

The catering manager particularly impressed with his crowd-pleasing dessert of chocolate soufflé and Irish cream milkshake.

And he wept as he gave an interview to camera after being unveiled as the winner following a week in which the atmosphere at the dinner table crackled with tension between contestants.

Super-confident Ian, who struggled to make it through parts of the week after overindulging on wine on his first night, proved popular with his fellow contestants, greeting each at the front door with a dog under his arm and dressed in black tie.

He had earlier introduced himself by saying: “My ideal dinner guest will be somebody super intelligent, with fantastic conversation. Well, me.”