TWO Bolton youngsters became the stars of a cooking challenge hosted by TV cookery star John Torode.

The Masterchef judge may be fearing for his job after nine-year-old Oscar Morrissy and seven-year-old Ben Charlesworth were tasked with describing the food in his inimitable style — and they passed the test with flying colours.

Ben, from Ainsworth, described the steak made by amateur chef Stephen Halsall as “absolutely divine”, and Oscar, from Blackrod, said the fish cooked by Masterchef winner Simon Wood had been cooked perfectly.

The pair were invited up to the cookery stage by John Torode, who was judging the Great Bolton Menu challenge contested by Simon and Stephen, the brother of Coronation Street’s Alan Halsall, who plays Tyrone Dobbs.

Oscar’s mum Kellie said: “He loves cooking, and he really wanted to meet John Torode, so it was brilliant for him to be able to get up and meet him.”

Ben’s mum Rachel added: “Ben loves to go fishing, he goes fishing for mackerel and he really loves cooking.”

After being judged to have been the winner after an audience vote by way of applause, Stephen revealed that he is an amateur and has only had two cooking lessons, and his day job is running a car bodywork and repair company in Manchester.

Stephen made fillet steak with onion and mushrooms, while Simon created a fish dish with chicken skin, which he had previously cooked when he appeared on Masterchef.

Stephen said: “It is amazing, I only had my second lesson last week with Mike Harrison who runs Chef to Go.

“He is my neighbour, so he asked me if I wanted to have a challenge, and it certainly was a challenge! I was really nervous but I managed it.”

Since winning Masterchef, lifelong Oldham Athletic fan Simon has been appointed as the club’s executive chef.

He said: “It was good to see John again, it is the first time that I’ve seen him since the competition, and it was good to be able to go some cooking with Stephen.”