‘People have made a great life out of Masterchef’
The much-loved cooking show is back. Judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace talk to Gemma Dunn about its recipe for success...
It’s hard to remember a time when Masterchef wasn’t on our tv screens. The competition, which puts passionate home cooks through their paces in the ultimate test of culinary prowess, has won over generations of fans in the three decades since it first aired – not to mention propelled many a budding chef to new career heights and launched a number of spin-off hits.
Couple its contestants’ success with the show’s no-frills approach and it’s simply a recipe that works, say judges John torode and Gregg Wallace, who have fronted the BBC show since its 2005 revival.
“We’re not scripted, we really care and we work in a very safe, well-lookedafter environment,” John, 57, reasons. “We’ve never had wardrobe, we’ve never had make-up or anything like that, which has kept us real.
“I think our survival is down to being allowed to be ourselves all the way through. taking responsibility for who we are, and what we are, has made it a cool show,” he adds.
“We’re incredibly proud of it,” Gregg, 58, follows, referencing the series’ inter-generational appeal and “supportive nature”.
“I regularly get messages from people who say, ‘This is the programme I watch with my children. This is our thing. We watch it together as a family’.” “What’s amazing is that you’ve got people who were watching at the age of 16, with their parents, who will now be sitting and watching with their own children,” John adds.
With the nation cooking at home and trying out new recipes more than ever, the news of Masterchef ’s imminent 19th season comes as no surprise.
Over eight weeks, John and Gregg – who were recently made MBES for their services to food and charity – will again preside as 45 talented home cooks battle it out to be crowned Masterchef Champion 2023. From the initial audition round, whereby they must impress the judges with their Family Favourite Dish to showing off their creativity and culinary repertoire to one of the country’s toughest food critics, William Sitwell, there’s plenty of fun – and drama – to come.
“I love that first round. It is like we’ve gone in for lunch and you learn a lot about them very quickly,” Gregg says, mimicking: “‘I wasn’t brought up with that food. tell me
What’s amazing is that you’ve got people who were watching at the age of 16, with their parents, who will now be sitting and watching with their own children
recruits will learn to survive and to be lethal as they prepare for deployment to the frontline fighting against Russia.
Long Lost Family: What Happened Next Thursday, ITV, 9pm
The series catches up with two people whose searches took them abroad.
First up is Long Lost Family’s oldest-ever searcher, Roy David, who discovered his daughter Cheryl was living in New York.
It turns out that, despite the distance, they have visited each other as much as possible and now Roy, who has developed glaucoma, is planning to travel to the Big Apple to celebrate his 89th birthday.
There’s also an update on Maria
Costantino, who discovered that her Italian birth mother had passed away but has met her large family.
Have I Got News For You
Friday, BBC1, 9pm
Since Angus Deayton got caught up in his own scandal in 2002, HIGNFY has had 124 guest hosts, beginning with Paul Merton, who stood in at the last minute following his colleague’s departure. Now in its 65th series, the BBC’S satirical standard-bearer shows no sign of slowing down. Charlie Brooker makes his 10th appearance and his fifth as host. In the Black Mirror creator’s previous outing in 2020, Ian Hislop jokingly blamed him for the coronavirus pandemic, calling him “the purveyor of apocalyptic vision”.