Non-stop bangers
It’s a proper sausage fest on the new series of Celebrity Masterchef tonight, and we don’t mean that it’s an all-male line-up: we mean that the first challenge of heat one is for our five celebrities to serve up bangers, mash and gravy – all from scratch, of course.
Contestants donning their aprons in later rounds include ex-goggleboxer Dom Parker, comic Josie Long, legendary singer Martha Reeves and weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker, but the first round’s hopefuls are Strictly pro Oti Mabuse, reality star Joey Essex, ex-footballer Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock, fashion designer Zandra Rhodes and long-distance runner and former Marine Andy Grant. Inside TV got on the phone to Andy to find out how he felt it went…
“It was a bit of a shock to be asked to take part, because I don’t class myself as a celebrity – and I’m certainly not a chef, either!” he tells us. “But I like having a go at cooking so, when I was asked, I thought it would be good fun.”
It’s fair to say that some of the contestants come in with a fair bit of prior experience in the kitchen before the cameras are even turned on – but Andy isn’t in that category…
“Out of 10, I’d probably rate myself a three or a four,” he chuckles. “I like looking at recipe books, but I’m not very good at just opening the fridge, seeing loads of ingredients and being inspired. With my lifestyle, I’m pretty basic – I cook a lot of quick and easy meals, so I was kind of throwing myself in at the deep end. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get away with a tuna pasta!”
On the bright side, Andy did have a well-experienced pal he could call on for some help before filming began…
“I spoke to an old friend who’s a chef in the military,” he reveals. “He was a great help, and gave me a bit more confidence in what I was doing. He just gave me tips on how not to look like a complete idiot, to be honest – how to cut an onion the proper way and how to do the basics!”
Despite his day job as a motivational speaker, Andy admits that stepping into the Masterchef studio made him feel rather anxious.
“I normally stand on stage in front of hundreds or thousands of people at a time, and I never get nervous,” he shares. “But to walk into that kitchen and not know what I was about to be asked to do was really nerve-wracking. It’s something I’ve not felt in a long time.”
We won’t reveal how Andy gets on in the competition, but we were curious to know how he rates his cooking ability now.
“Probably still a three or four, to be honest!” he admits. “I’m just a bit more confident!”