Dinner is served
Come Dine With Me SA returns for its eighth season of sometimes-delicious always-drama-filled dining.
Come Dine With Me SA
Season 8 Wednesdays (from 12 October) BBC Lifestyle (*174) 20:00
Let the eating begin, the scoring be strategic… and the entertainment factor be off the charts! Scrump-tious reality series Come Dine With Me SA has new guests, new menus and all-new drama filling our screens and our tummies! But what’s it really like being a contestant on the show, hoping to wine, dine and delight the others with a three-course meal prepared entirely at home and with no extra help? We chatted to season 8 contestant Cassidy Coetsee to find out what goes into this delightful series. And as the 32-year-old yoga instructor reveals, it’s wild!
What made you enter? I entered Come Dine With Me because I feel like I’m a bit of a social butterfly and I enjoy meeting new people. I also really enjoy cooking; I find it therapeutic and when you combine the two, you have this show.
What did you know before competing on the show? Had you seen an episode?
I absolutely love the show! I’ve never missed an episode. My best part is the narrator Dave Lamb (from the original British show) commenting on the hosts. I enjoy the humour that he brings and that it’s a reality show with normal, everyday people. And how long did it take filming your segment? Filming the episode I’m featured in (episode 1) took a total of five days. Each contestant gets a day, plus all the interviews to the camera. It’s a lot of work that goes into an episode, especially for the production crew.
How did you choose your menu? Honestly now when I look back at my menu, I feel like I cooked my gran’s food but thought to cook my favourite food, all together. That was the inspiration for my menu and I hope the viewers – and my competitors – enjoy it!
Who did the preparation, like buying the ingredients, setting up your kitchen?
The contestants do absolutely everything! I am a perfectionist and made sure to set the table and make the dishes a week before for my family as a trial run to iron out any problems. I made sure that I was well prepared for my filming day.
Were you happy with how everything went? I wasn’t happy with the way my food turned out, to be honest. I actually think it was a flop! But the company and the experience was incredible for me.
In hindsight, would you have changed your menu knowing what you know now? Yes! I definitely would change my menu – completely! I would have done something more fresh and healthy like my lifestyle rather than my binge food!
So what went wrong during your dinner preparation? Yoh! Loadshedding!
But I had this plan in my head how things would turn out, and like life, absolutely nothing went to plan.