IAN HYLAND on last night’s telly
Celebrity Best Home Cook, BBC1
Dramatic scenes on the BBC last night as we saw footage of Rachel Johnson spilling a tall and carefully constructed multi-layered cake all over the kitchen worktop.
I wish I could say she was the first member of her family to have problems with complicated tiers lately... Luckily, the only consequence of this particular Johnson’s clumsiness was a loss of face in front of millions of TV viewers.
And she wasn’t alone in that. The first episode of this search for the showbiz world’s best home cook could easily have been renamed Celebrity Disasterchef.
Not that the BBC would have dared call it that. Its likeness to Masterchef was already obvious enough. Still, schedules need filling – so we’ll let the BBC off.
For most people, the fact that Mary Berry is one of the judges would have been reason enough to watch.
Although I cannot have been the only viewer who felt a little worried for Mary.
Social distancing measures were in place, but you still had to wonder whether it was a risk worth taking.
The contestants were clearly comfortable with it. I’m not saying they were all from the thirstier end of the showbiz market, but I’m guessing for one or two it would take more than a pandemic to keep them off our screens. It was good fun though.
I particularly enjoyed Gareth Thomas cracking up as Ed Balls revealed: “I had dreams about aubergines at 3am”.
“We all know what the aubergine emoji means!” Gareth shrieked. Ed certainly does now.
I’m guessing for one or two it would take more than a pandemic to keep them off our screens. It was good fun