Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ON HIS MASTERCHEF NERVES
John is up for the egg cup
new-found respect for people who work in restaurants.”
John bonded with the other contestants – especially pop star Myles Stephenson, comedian Judi Love, Death In Paradise actress Shyko Amos and
Apprentice candidate Thomas Skinner. He says: “We all got on really well – no bitchiness, no back-biting. Myles surprised me because he is a single pop star, I expected him to just be having takeaways, but he was very
Comedy star Judi
POP IT IN OVEN Chart star Myles good. He’s from Watford and I used to play for Watford.
“Judi is from Jamaica, so am I, so we had a lot in common.”
And was he onside or offside with judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode? He says: “Gregg’s nice, bubbly, supportive. John plays bad cop, a bit more critical. Off air, they’re nice guys.”
John is an anti-racism campaigner and suffered plenty of abuse as a player. But he was always treated well off the pitch
– because of his fame. In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, he adds: “I’ve experienced racism when people don’t know I’m a celebrity. Police stop me in my car. All of a sudden, they go, ‘Oh, sorry Barnesy, it’s you’.
“When you walk down the street, does a woman clutch her bag and cross the road? When you go into a newsagent, does the man at the till think you are going to steal something?
“That’s the norm for black people. And if I wasn’t a footballer, I’d be treated the same as any black person. Education is the answer, but it is important to look at what we are teaching our children about race.” Celebrity MasterChef starts on BBC1 at 9pm on Wednesday.