ANGELLICA FEELS THE HEAT IN TV’S TOUGHEST KITCHEN
WITH a husband who made it all the way to the final, Angellica Bell may have expected an insiders’ guide to Celebrity MasterChef.
But The One Show star says Michael Underwood’s competitive instincts made for an interesting home life.
Angellica is one of the hopefuls in the 12th series of the BBC’s culinary competition which starts this week with John Torode and Gregg Wallace once again doing the judging.
“When he heard I was doing it, the first thing he said was, ‘You’d better not beat me!’” laughed Angellica, 41.
“Of course he wanted me to do well and he was supportive, but saying that put pressure on me. If I was practising something he’d say, ‘Oh, I don’t think John and Gregg would like that’.
“He’d have a taste and wind me up. I felt like I had three men, John, Gregg and Michael, telling me how to do things.
“With Michael having done so well, I did feel I had something to prove.” Stepping into the famous MasterChef kitchen can be daunting and Angellica admits the pressure got to her on occasions. Praise left her elated while feeling she hadn’t done as well as expected led to tears.
“There were times I’d come back and tell Michael I’d cried or got overwhelmed and emotional,” admitted Angellica, joined by Jim Moir ( Vic Reeves), Stephen Hendry, Julia Somerville and Henri Leconte in this first week. “But he knew how emotional you can get though that’s not normally how you are. “It’s because you’re in a little bubble in there.” Although she was aware of what she was letting herself in for, the judging process still left Angellica a bag of nerves.
“It’s an incredible experience, but terrifying as well.
“It’s the fear that comes with not knowing. You’ve put your heart and soul into this and if they say it’s terrible you feel broken inside.
“It was like being back at school, except that if you were bad and called to the headmaster’s office you could put your own take on it later.
“With everyone there, being criticised really isn’t good. But if you’re told it’s good it’s such a wonderful feeling.
“Afterwards you’re going to be doing the walk of shame or you’re going to feel so elated.”
Angellica has two young kids, Elijah and Keziah, with Michael.
And she says they all got plenty of chances to get a taste of her dishes as she practiced them endlessly.
She was still working hard on The One Show during MasterChef filming and still fitted in all family duties, just as much as possible.
She’d cook the family dishes, rustle up tests of her TV creations for comment and then sometimes have extra late night practices.
“I have never cooked – or dreamed – about that much food in my life,” said Angellica. “You so want to go there and do well.”
Angellica was a CBBC presenter for years before spending the last decade as a roving reporter for The One Show.
It’s a role she clearly adores and says the recognition she gets is a mixture from both of her best-known jobs.
“The One Show has definitely got the formula right, of being informative and random,” she adds.
“People who grew up with me on CBBC are now in their 20s and they come up for a chat. And then loads of people want to talk about The One Show and whatever report I’ve been doing.
“I’m really good friends with Alex Jones and I’ve known Matt Baker for a long time, so going into work has a real family feel.”
Celebrity MasterChef, BBC 1, Wednesday, 8pm.