Gavin Esler says he finds Master Chef scarier than anything else
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Newsnight’s Gavin Esler, 68, is taking part in Celebrity MasterChef’s final week of heats alongside the likes of Love Island star Kem Cetinay and actress Michelle Collins. The journalist is not known for his culinary skills but is set to cook away a storm this week, with maybe a few too many laughs along the way.
I’m sure some of the banter will be cut out, but there was a lot of it.
Gavin Esler
Talking to the Radio Times, Gavin said: “I spent half my life working on late-night television and the last thing you want to do when you get home is watch TV.
“So, I’d never seen MasterChef.”
Having never watched the show, Gavin was left with many surprises during filming.
When discussing what will make the show, the broadcaster said: “I’m sure some of the banter will be cut out, but there was a lot of it.”
Other contestants include Kem, Paralympian Kadeena Cox, Strictly’s Johannes Radebe, and actress Michelle.
As Gavin does not watch TV, he was asked what it was like working with TV stars on the show.
He replied: “It was probably odder for them – I’m sure they had no idea who I was, other than some bloke in the corner who doesn’t eat sugar.
“But we had a common enemy, which was Gregg [Wallace] and John [Torode] . We all bonded via applauding one another or commiserating with each other.”
Outside of his journalistic roles, Gavin is the author of five novels and four nonfiction books.
The broadcaster said that when writing his books, cooking a meal is a lovely distraction from the hard work.
Living near the Kent coast, Gavin is very lucky with the ingredients, cooking with the freshest produce from the markets.
The journalist, not known for his work in the kitchen, was very surprised with how he did in MasterChef.
Gavin performed a lot better than he had hoped, and told readers that he was never humiliated by his cooking while filming MasterChef.
This can not be said for other celebrity who have made a few blunders so far in the series.
From 2003 to 2014, Gavin presented BBC Two’s Newsnight, taking the place of Jeremy Vine.
Having been on TV for many years, he knows the importance of timings when cooking.
Gavin said that although his food might not have been up to scratch, many years in the newsroom has made him good at working to tight deadlines.
The first challenge for the five hopefuls tonight will include the Under the Cloche Test.
Under each one is an ingredient, and each celebrity must make a dish that showcases that ingredient.
There is then the Street Food Challenge, followed by the final culinary creativity where contestants are asked to prepare their Dinner Party Dish.
You can watch Gavin Esler on Celebrity MasterChef this evening at 9pm.
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