GETHIN JONES
PRESENTER GETHIN JONES TELLS OK!’S KIRSTY HATCHER ABOUT SWAPPING STRICTLY FOR THE CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF KITCHEN…
He’s been attacked by an alligator on Blue Peter and tackled the paso doble on Strictly Come Dancing, but Gethin Jones says nothing compares to battling it out in the Celebrity Masterchef kitchen. “I cannot believe how nervous I was,” says the presenter. “I was laughing to myself and thinking, ‘Why am I shaking so much about chopping a spud?’”
The 42-year-old is taking on the likes of Jeff Brazier and Lady Leshurr in the competition, but when he’s not trying to cook up a storm in the kitchen, the Welshman can be found being a roving reporter on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two.
Here, Gethin opens up about his anxiety on Masterchef, dating during lockdown and
Strictly without an audience…
Do you know how Strictly is going to work this year?
I don’t. I know I’m going to be back, which is brilliant. I know they’re working flat out to make the show a success in whatever guise it’s going to be this year. I’m very excited to see who’s going to be on it and how it’s going to work. I chat to the pros and I’ve been doing a workout with Oti Mabuse every Friday!
Catherine Tyldesley has said she thinks this year’s contestants might struggle without a live audience…
I’m not being down on it, but I’d be lying if I said it won’t make a difference. It’s a bit like sport at the moment – of course a live crowd gets you going. When you feel the heat and energy from an audience it’s pretty special. But what can you do? It’s a shame – but it’s a shame on a global scale that we can’t do things as normal. But I imagine the crew will have some very clever stuff up their sleeves and I have no doubt that the way they will shoot it and the way it will look on telly will be superb.
You’ve been presenting The One Show with Alex Jones. Are you going to fill Matt Baker’s spot permanently?
I think it’s all up in the air at the moment because of the pandemic. I don’t know what the plan is, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve loved going into work and snooping into people’s houses as all the interviews have been on Skype. But I was disappointed when we had Tom Hanks’ wife Rita on. I was so looking forward to seeing Tom Hanks’ house as they have a typewriter room, but Rita was in the utility room. I love working with Al. I’ve known her since I was 18 and my first ever TV job was with her. I was wearing double denim and she had about 17 colours in her hair! We’re always chatting away before the show starts and we have to remind ourselves we’re on live telly at 7pm and we have to behave ourselves!
Alex revealed you’d been on a virtual date during lockdown...
I was telling her before the show and then she said it when we were live! I said, “I was only telling you that!” I had a cooking date on Facetime. I cooked something I’d made on Celebrity Masterchef. We were both cooking the same thing at the same time – I sent all of the ingredients – and we were chatting and I had a glass of wine. It was like a really basic version of James Martin’s Saturday Kitchen with one viewer!
Did the date go well?
I never spoke to her again… I’m just joking, that’s for me to know!
How were your cooking skills on Celebrity Masterchef?
They’re much better now! All I can tell you is that there is a little bit of a twist with my Masterchef story. From where I was to where I am is unreal. What you learn on that show in a short space of time is phenomenal. You get so into it and you start practising like mad. I bought two or three kilograms of salmon because I wanted to practise my filleting. At one point my freezer was full with 60 salmon fillets. It was salmon for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Did you find it nerve-wracking?
I cannot believe how nervous I was. I’ve done some really silly things – I’ve built a shelter in the Bolivian jungle, I’ve been attacked by an alligator [in Louisiana on Blue Peter] and I’ve broken bones on camera – but walking into that kitchen for the first time, I was so nervous I couldn’t keep my hands still. It almost became funny.
Were you worried about giving judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace food poisoning?
Yeah, that’s the worst. They have the best food poker faces I’ve ever seen. There was one bit where I did something I was so proud of that I’m a bit worried I’m going to come across like an idiot, I was that excited!
CATCH GETHIN ON CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF, WEDNESDAY 15 JULY, 9PM, ON BBC ONE AND IPLAYER
‘i’ve been doing a workout with oti every friday!’