HOT IN THE KITCHEN
ANGELLICA BELL AND TOMMY BANKS TAKE OVER THE FAMILY FOOD COMPETITION…
The show formerly known as The Big Family Cooking Showdown returns to our screens this week, and it’s under new management.
Now hosted by Celebrity Masterchef winner Angellica Bell and Tommy Banks – the youngest-ever chef to receive a Michelin star – they’ll be judging, too. We called up Angellica and Tommy to find out what we can expect from this refreshed series…
What can you tell us about the new format of the show?
Angellica We’re celebrating the fact that a lot of people love cooking at home with their families, and are really proud of what they do. So series two is an extension of that. We’ve changed the name a little bit, and we’re stripping it over three weeks so people can really buy into the families. Tommy It gets quite serious with the food, but it’s also really fun to meet all these characters, and amazing to see the relationships you get between three people.
How did the two of you find working together?
Angellica Tommy’s hilarious, and he really cares about food – plus we could bounce off each other about the different foods we like. He obviously does more high-end cooking, and I’m more a home cook, but we’re kind of coming from the same place because we both taught ourselves. Tommy This was my first time presenting, so I was nervous, but Angellica was lovely. She looked after me and showed me some tricks of the trade!
Does having families working together mean bickering among the teams?
Tommy Naturally! Families bicker, don’t they? I work with
my family every single day
– we run a restaurant together – so I’m fully aware of what it’s like! It was interesting to just stand back and see it. Angellica Food would go wrong, tempers would fray, then things would go wrong even more. I just wanted to go in and say, “Just relax!” But there were times where you definitely didn’t want to get involved in any arguments!