Singer feared feud would prove recipe for disaster
Tensions boiled over in 2007 when the T’Pau singer tried to teach Gregg how to sing on the BBC’s Just The Two of Us.
She said: “When my agent said I was being considered for Celebrity MasterChef, I thought, I bet Gregg will say, ‘I’m not working with her again’.
“He really got on my nerves. He was new to TV and he coped with his nerves by being a little belligerent.”
The pair had blazing backstage rows because Gregg, 53, seemed more interested in telling jokes than learning to sing.
They were booted off the reality TV show first. The China In Your Hand singer, 60, said: “I said, ‘Knuckle down and pay attention’. He didn’t like it.” Carol was so nervous about taking part in MasterChef that she came out in hives. But she need not have worried as Gregg did not hold a grudge. She laughed: “Ten years on, he’s a pussycat. When he first saw me, he gave me a big hug – it was great.” Carol’s restaurateur husband Richard Coates gave her tips before filming but said “you’re allowed to, it’s not cheating”.
Carol has bonded with actor and fellow contestant Keith Allen, 64, over their ailments.
She said: “He had a chronic indigestion problem that hadn’t trouble him for years until we started filming.
“We met in the hotel the next morning and he said, ‘I thought I was having a heart attack’. I said, ‘Look at my hives’. I was having anxiety dreams, everyone had to calm me down. It took its toll.” ■■Celebrity MasterChef returns to BBC One on Thursday at 8pm Denise Welch is in talks to host a new lesbian dating show.
The Loose Women star says it would be a dream job.
Denise describes herself as an “honorary lesbian” after appearing in web series Different For Girls, based on Jacquie Lawrence’s novel.
I said knuckle down and pay attention. He did not like it