I’m over the moon about presenting the new series of Celebrity MasterChef. I was utterly surprised to be asked. For me, this was taking on the mantle of a show that I’ve watched religiously from the moment it began in 1990.
I think when you ask people who work in television what it’s like, they always say the same things about how thrilled they are, but I genuinely am – I’ve lived and breathed this show for ever, and now I’m front and centre!
The first dish I learnt to cook was... asparagus risotto
I’ve cooked since I was a child, but the first fancy thing I learnt to cook was an asparagus champagne risotto with aged Parmesan — which was very, very glamorous in 1998. Back then I was living in Camden, in a big, shared house with five incredibly ambitious women who all worked in the media. Whenever I had a date night, I would try to woo whoever was coming round for dinner with my risotto. When I cooked on the MasterChef Battleof the Critics Christmas special in 2023, I made this dish. I knew two things — firstly, that if you can master that risotto with depth and manage to get it out on the plate, people are always impressed. And secondly, I knew it was possible in that amount of time, because I’d done it with rollers in while trying to choose a dress.
I loved it, but that’s when I realised how hard it was to be a critic. I really liked people like Michael Winner who did Winner’s Dinners in The Sunday Times. I thought he had a wonderful job, because all you do is go and eat dinner and then say what you think — but writing that review made me realise that you go into a place like Mango Room and it’s a small, independent restaurant and the staff’s heart and soul. The money you spend pays for people’s children’s food, so you have to take it seriously.
I'll never forget the taste of... sheep's testicle mousse
The bit I will never be OK with is the amount of money that needs to be spent in some restaurants. When I pay £650 for two people, there will always be a part of me that thinks, “I could have given that money to [youth club charity] the Rock Youth Project in Currock.”
My MasterChef highlight is... saucy steak with potatoes and buttery vegetables
But all of them were amazing — they all brought their personalities. I remember one celebrity coming on and I don’t think she’d really cooked that much until she arrived. She completely lacked confidence in herself. Everything she did cook was mega-healthy, I don’t think she ever allowed herself butter and sugar. But we got her cooking incredible steak and potatoes with sauces and buttery vegetables. From that moment, you could see her just come to life.
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