“MasterChef New Zealand” mother-and-son duo Donna-Marie Sullivan and Jonathan Odering became the fifth pair to leave the show after succumbing to pressure on Monday.

For the challenge on Monday, the contestants were told to give a classic French fish stew a Kiwi twist for their special guest, chef Daniel Wilson.

Unlike previously eliminated contestants, Donna-Marie and Jonathan weren’t confident when they started their stew, admitting that they didn’t have a game plan for the challenge.

They managed to finish their dish, though, just in time for plating.

However, their effort wasn’t enough to earn decent points from the judges.

According to Chef Daniel, their stew’s “salmon’s a little bit ragged.”

Judge Ray McVinnie wasn’t also impressed, saying, “It looks like it’s been thrown in a pot and had the living bejeezus boiled out of it.”

Unsurprisingly, Donna-Marie and Jonathan landed in the Bottom Two alongside former partners Elizabeth Marshall and Jenn Clark, who have been in the bottom numbers four out of six times already.

It was the mother and son team who got the boot in the end, which meant Elizabeth and Jenn are safe for another week.

Donna-Marie thought the judges made a fair call, but was “a wee bit sad” for her son.

“This is his dream. But I know this is just a stepping stone for him,” she said.

As it turned out, she didn’t have to be worried about Jonathan because the show sparked his passion for cooking.

“It’s what I always wanted to do and I think MasterChef sparked that passion again to do what I love for cooking,” Jonathan told Fairfax NZ News, saying he has landed his dream job at Prime Restaurant in Queenstown.

“It was down to bad luck, the timing and the pressure,” he explained why they were eliminated. “We didn’t get too negative... it was just it was uder pressure and time and all that jazz.

“We left feeling good about ourselves because we still felt we put in a great effort and got as far as we could.”

Being on the show brought the already close duo even closer together, he added.

Although they didn’t often get compliments on their dishes, Jonathan said they always looked forward to the judges’ feedback.

“The judges were alright but mum was always intimidated by them. You’re sitting there and waiting to find out what they are going to say and it is a wee bit intimidating.

“But it is always good to find out what other people think of your food, especially famous judges like them.”