James can dine out on his TV triumph
Teacher wins show
A Cambuslang primary school teacher has enjoyed a taste of TV fame after winning an episode of Come Dine With Me last week.
St Charles’ Primary teacher James Kane won £1,000 on the Channel 4 show, impressing his fellow guests with a menu designed around his beloved Hamilton.
The 44-year-old told the Reformer: “It is a programme I have always enjoyed and I mentioned it to my colleagues over the summer holidays in 2016 as I fancy myself as decent party host.
“A few days later there was an article in the Daily Record looking for contestants and after I auditioned they said I was the first alternate.
“They followed it up in October to ask if my wife and I would do Couples Come Dine With Me but we were back in school and to say my wife Laura wasn’t as keen would be an understatement.
“At the beginning of the last summer holidays they contacted me again and everything fell into place. Win, lose or draw I knew it would be an experience to savour.”
James impressed his fellow guests with a starter named Hamilton Cluckies - honey, soy and garlic chicken, followed by a main course of Avon Kiss – a monkfish and prawn curry with homemade chapatis - and finishing with a Limekilnburn Sundae, made with ice-cream from the town’s Equi’s at Peacock Cross.
His successful night also included a local Elton John tribute called Hamelton John and a poem about the town.
The show combines cooking skills and one-upmanship as four contestants take it in turns to play the host, trying to impress their fellow diners and win £1,000.
See next week’s Reformer for how St Charles’ youngsters have reacted to James’s TV moment.