A meal-ticket for reality regulars, an unappetising TV dinner for us
THE sarky term in Hollywood for stars who got a legup from famous parents is ‘nepo baby’. So many little twinklers in the firmament, such as Brooklyn-son-of-David Beckham, got their starts thanks to nepotism.
But there ought to be a word for spouses who line up a bit of extra work for their other halves. Sometimes it works rather well — for instance, when Keeley Hawes took the role of wife to duplicitous MP John Stonehouse (played by reallife husband matthew macfadyen).
Sometimes it’s cringeworthy. Thank the lord we’ll never again have to see Phillip Schofield faking the smarmy festivities with wife Stephanie in their Christmas gadgets show.
Usually, though, when a married couple find themselves working together on telly, it’s just awkward. Emma Willis looked as though she was regretting her decision to invite hubbie matt on to her celebrity kitchen contest, Cooking With The Stars (ITV1). ‘It is really weird calling matt, “matt Willis”,’ she admitted.
matt, best known from the Noughties boy band Busted, tried to smile his way through. But the grin became gritted teeth, long before the climactic embarrassment of becoming the first celeb to be voted off the show.
most of the contestants are reality TV regulars, including Chris Eubank, Indiyah Polack from love Island and Corrie’s Samia longchambon. What actor Jason Watkins was doing there is a mystery: perhaps it’s a contractual ITV obligation, to promote his detective serial McDonald & Dodds, or maybe he really wanted to watch Peter andre making ravioli.
The real problem with this format is not the novice chefs themselves but the meals they cook. Nothing is exactly appetising. mentors are shouting advice from the sidelines like football managers, fellow celebs are whooping and cheering, but the finished food is a long way from the standard on Celebrity MasterChef, for example.
Gavin & Stacey actress Joanna Page’s dish was supposed to be pollo alla caprese, a slice of chicken that seemed so embarrassed by its pretentious name that it was attempting to hide under a heap of tomatoes. The poultry was probably as glad as matt and Emma Willis when it was all over.
It was left to copresenter Tom allen to carry the show with a few deft ad libs and sidelong looks to camera. It’s a technique he perfected on Bake Off: The Professionals (Ch4), which returned with Ellie Taylor in his role.
last year, Stacey Solomon tried to fill his shoes. Stacey is another one who likes to bring her husband, Joe Swash, along whenever she can. She’s always bursting with enthusiasm, but this version of Bake off demands much more than that from its presenters.
The patisserie challenges are so intense, and judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden are such garishly eccentric personalities, that it can all become overwhelming. It takes a confident character to hold everything together.
Ellie was in charge from the start, wearing a threetier wedding cake as a costume before changing into a yellow cheesecloth dress that made her look like a cross between Judy Garland and a cupcake.
Cohost liam Charles was able to go back to being the baby in the kitchen, which is what he does best. He attempted one joke, about mushy opera cake slices that ‘weren’t singing at all’. Ellie’s withering retort — ‘Nice one, liam’ — will ensure he doesn’t try to be funny again.
The rest was a delicious blur of chocolate sculptures and banoffee treats. Two contestants revealed they enjoy ‘puppy yoga’ — that’s stretching and mindfulness sessions, with added pets. I want to know more about that.