He’s such a dish

Presenter Rylan Clark-Neal adds a bit of spice to iconic gourmet game show

Green peppers or red tomatoes? Have your voting cards ready as this iconic cooking game show makes a return.

Ready Steady Cook was a daytime TV favourite, originally hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 before Ainsley Harriott took over in 2000.

After a 10-year absence, RSC is back with Celebrity MasterChef finalist Rylan

Clark-Neal as the new presenter, alongside expert chefs Mike Reid, Romy Gill, Akis Petretzikis, Ellis Barrie and Anna Haugh.

As before, two contestants are paired with a chef and compete to prepare dishes with a bag of chosen ingredients. The studio audience vote for the winner. We chatted to the dish-ofthe-day himself, Rylan...

What are your memories of the original show? During my teenage years, it was on at about 4.30pm when I’d just be getting home from school. Watching it always got me in the mood for my dinner. When the BBC asked me to present the new show I rang both Fern and Ainsley, who were lovely and told me to make it my own.

Were you worried about comparisons with the past?

Yes. We filmed it in Scotland and I’d been warned that Glaswegian audiences can be unforgiving. However, they loved it so much they wouldn’t leave the studio. They wanted to stay and watch another episode being recorded.

How were the contestants? Some were brilliant cooks and others couldn’t even crack an egg. The age range was 20 to 84 and we had our first totally blind contestant called Alex, who was just unbelievable.

Did you put on weight after sampling so many dishes? Oh, it was terrible. On the plane back from Glasgow, I had to reserve two seats just for me.