After nearly a decade off mainstream telly, bizarre-voiced TV host and pasta sauce pusher Loyd ‘no, it’s spelled with one L’ Grossman is to return to our screens on Simon Cowell’s ‘X-Factor-for-grub’ show Food Glorious Food.
The show is being produced by Cowell’s Syco imprint and starts production in September. Grossman, who used to front Masterchef for 16 years before launching his own range of sauces, will judge alongside posh food writer Tom ‘yes, he is related’ Parker-Bowles and the winner of the show will get a wodge of cash and their product on the shelves in M&S.
Of Grossman’s appointment an insider is quoted as saying: “It is a great coup signing up Loyd to the show, as he was always a favourite on the original version of MasterChef. Tom is also one to watch – and will bring a touch of class to proceedings.”
Not sure which channel will show the programme, by the way, but it has ITV written all over it.
For those of you too young to remember Grossman in his pomp, here’s (honestly) a clip of him in action:
‘Cooking does not get tougher than this!’ – Yes, it’s back. Celebrity Masterchef starts a new run this coming Monday on BBC2 at 6:30.
Every year a new set of unlikely would-be chefs have a crack at impressing judges John ‘jowl’ Torode and Greg ‘ingredients expert’ Wallace by cooking dishes of their own invention in a big TV kitchen or on various random locations.
This year, the famous faces we’ll be seeing conjure up barely edible food will be:
Former Neighbours star Anne Charleston,
Lanky TV presenter Jamie Theakston,
Pop singer Javine Hylton,
Former Olympic swimmer Stephen ‘Steve’ Parry,
Comedian/ actress/ writer Emma ‘no, we’ve not heard of her either’ Kennedy,
Presumably ex pop star Gareth Gates,
Footballer’s Wives actress Laila Rouass,
Actor George Layton, who’ll probably recognise from 70’s sitcoms,
Telly gardener Diarmud Gavin,
Grumpy Old Woman Jenny Eclair,
Michael ‘jobbing TV presenter’ Underwood,
Olympic cyclist Rebecca Romero,
Former Bucks Fizzer Cheryl Baker,
Ex footballer Danny Mills,
Richard ‘Dick not Dom’ McCourt,
And former Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon.
We really can’t pick a winner from that lot. Three have food-related surnames so that might help, the sports stars know all about nutrition and Cheryl Baker did a diet advert so she should know her stuff. It really is impossible to predict.
If Masterchef was supposed to teach us anything its probably that food is serious business. However, we think it should just be a bit of fun, which is why we love this spoof version of this seasons final episode by Millers and Long.
Off the back of a successful Celebrity Masterchef with supreme slurpers John Torode and Gregg Wallace, the show is moving to a brand new kitchen which will accommodate a bigger group of amateur cooks all hoping to be the next champion, it was announced today.
So, Celebrity Masterchef (BBC One, Thursday, 22 July, 8pm) is back on our screens to tell us that COOKING DOESN’T GET LOUDER OR MORE MELODRAMATIC THAN THIS! And it really doesn’t.
When Masterchef returned to our screens all those years ago, revamped and brimming with liveliness, it was a real TV treat. The old version was a dank studio full of foodie idiots all patting each other on the back, breathlessly talking and being reverential over some bloody asparagus or something.
About bloody time. This week sees the return of MasterChef (BBC One, Thursday, 18 February, 8.30pm). No Already Famous People, no professionals… good, honest, amateur cooks going head-to-head in a food-off. Once more, John Torode and Gregg Wallace return to the fray enabling us all to play MasterChef bingo!
A clearly weary world can trudge toward Masterchef The Professionals (BBC Two, Thursday, 22 October, 8pm) in a show that’s fast becoming a parody of itself. The shouting, the ear-imploding rave, the thumb-screw pressure applied to sweaty cooks and Gregg Wallace’s sweet tooth… they’re all there, all present and correct and… well… exactly as you left them.
I can’t remember a series of Masterchef – celebrity or otherwise – that has worked the three finalists as hard as they’ve done in this series. Iwan Thomas, Wendi Peters and Jayne Middlemiss looked knackered, tense and seriously on edge as they entered the Masterchef HQ kitchen this evening. Iwan even touched the frame of the door as he strode into the arena, just like Liverpool football players touch the ‘This is Anfield’ crest before they run onto the pitch. And this was even before the cooking started.
There was a lot of crying last night’s penultimate episode of Celebrity Masterchef. And who can blame these exhausted finalists? The series has been going for at least six years and Iwan Thomas is keen to win it I’m half expecting him to serve up his own kidneys in tomorrow night’s final cook-off. But there was this very tense and breakneck episode to get out of the way first, and it was a doozie.
As much as I’m a fan of Masterchef in all its forms, this series of Celebrity Masterchef has, to me, dragged a wee bit. The standard of cooking has been pretty poor, but things are getting serious now – it’s semi-final time and you can see everyone has got their game faces on. So did I. I haven’t watched it for a week or so, so I was eager to see if things had progressed. I’d also forgotten that this was an hour long, so it was isotonic drinks a go-go.
Food on TV is wholly made-up of middle class people who are good at baking and chefs who are absolute wankshafts giving off the impression that they sniff cocaine constantly. That is, except for The People’s Foodie, Sir Gregg Wallace. He’s the lad about town who would be as happy eating at Smith’s of Smithfield as having a kebab after a night on the burp-pop. So while Jamie Oliver’s attempts at introducing Rotherham to celeriac seemed a little contrived and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s ‘Chicken Out’ campaign didn’t exactly endear himself to everyone in the country, step forward Gregg (so foodie that’s he’s even got egg in his first name) with a show called Gregg Wallace’s Recession Bites (BBC Two, Tuesday, 30 June, 10pm).
Judging doesn’t get any more stylised than this! This, being Celebrity Masterchef (BBC One, Wednesday, 1 July, 8pm) which, for reasons that haven’t made themselves clear in my mind yet, hasn’t managed to capture my imagination this year. Still that said, it’s got its own high expectations to live up to and this week, after three weeks of some inspired cooking… and of course, some glaring cock-ups (green pancake) Gregg and John are set to virtually sit in each others laps, pondering loudly at each others eyeballs about the six remaining celebrity chefs left in the Masterchef examination room/kitchen. Down to six? Yep. It’s semi-final time.
Celebrity MasterChef (BBC One, Wednesday, 17 June, 8pm), like The Internet, is a very serious business… for absolutely no reason. Both of these things require participants to get overly passionate about things that don’t really matter too much to the point where it resembles an OCD. People get scalded online by the grammar police, so too in the kitchens of TV, people are slapped with a heavy hand because the broccoli doesn’t quite go with the prawns. One step back to breathe and you realise that it’s all a bit silly really. However, it’s because Celebrity Masterchef takes itself so incredibly seriously that we enjoy watching it. It’s almost camp in the determination to be respected by everyone else. The snare skin tension of the music, the cold, hard stares of Torode and Wallace and the exam room dread of the room in which the celebrities cook all add up to a delightfully ludicrous show in which the winner gets little more than a crap trophy.
“Biiiiiig biiiiiiiiiiiiiiig flavours! GRRRRRR! ROWF!” Celebrity Masterchef (BBC One, Wednesday, 10 June, 8pm) it’s lovely to have you back on our screens. It really is. Oh how I’ve missed your complete over egging of the situation and the needless cranking of tension toward people who just want to cook something nice to eat. Yep. The show returned last night and barely a thing was different about it, which was fun because now it’s on BBC One, as opposed to BBC Two, the show could’ve tweaked this and that in an attempt to make more of what they had… but really, the format is so tight that to tinker with it needlessly would be churlish. So we all tune in to play Masterchef Bingo in our heads and enjoy the culinary disasters and triumphs and grab at shadows in our attempts to spot the eventual winner.
Celebrity masterchef starts tonight (BBC One, Wednesday 10 June, 8pm) and that really is rather a cause for celebration. Rather. As fantastic as it will be to see Gregg and John in action (complete with a look at how Gregg’s tasting technique), one of the unheralded things that really makes the shows is India Fisher’s smooth and husky voiceover. She’s one of our favourite voiceover artists here at TV Scoop, and it was a real treat to talk to her. Although she sounds nothing like she sounds on the telly. Have a look at what she said after the jump…
Toughing doesn’t cook any getting than this! No wait. Doesnae tough this cookery than… I’ll get it in a minute. I’m just a little out of practise. *Clears throat* Cooking doesn’t get any tougher than this! HELL YEAH! It’s time to shave my head, slap me on the arse and scoff food and purr about how much I like puddings… it’s Celebrity MasterChef (BBC One, Wednesday, 10 June, 8pm). Stylistically, this show can grate like cheap cheese, what with the relentless pounding dance music, crash pan cameras and weird shots of Gregg Wallace and John Torode seemingly yelling at each other from inches away without ever once looking into camera, leaving us feeling like we’re spying on some weird food cult. Yet still, it’s a rollickingly fun show to watch and of course, as there’s celebrities involved, we can all cheer on those that do well and hoot at those on the brink of a breakdown over some scallops (which are, let’s face it, The New Prawn Cocktail).
I’m very excited. Very. Whereas the onset of Big Brother is leaving me cold, the imminent blast off of Celebrity Masterchef is making me get a dab on. What’s more, I’m off to Masterchef HQ on Thursday for the press launch. I may take my best cooking implements along just in case. Rest assured, I’ll be reporting on the experience of penetrating Gregg and John’s inner sanctum, but in the meantime, have a look after the jump and you can find out who will be battling it out in this year’s competition.
C’est formidable! The BBC have made me very happy this morning by announcing that they’ve recommissioned The Restaurant for a third series! WAHOO! [Although we did cover this a few weeks ago - Ed] The show, fronted by Le God, Raymond Blanc, will once again see nine couples battling it out for the opportunity to open a restaurant with him. Even after two series, that’s still a mindnumbingly brilliant prize. Blanc said of the new series: “This year will be survival of the fittest. I am not looking for dreamers, I want to see couples with fresh ideas and a partnership that will flourish under pressure.” And what’s this about Masterchef?
Last night, after 32 programmes, Masterchef reached its conclusion last night. As ever I enjoyed it and I think that Mat was a worthy winner (the standard was amazing though, wasn’t it?). One thing struck me about Mat. He seemed like a lovely guy, with his soft Kiwi inflections and dainty-for-a-big-man food, but, for a few weeks now, I just couldn’t get the image of Ming The Merciless out of my head. One of our commenters already, erm, commenting on the likeness and she’s so right. Have a look over the jump and see what we mean…
For all our Masterchef news, reviews and interviews, go here.
After nearly a decade off mainstream telly, bizarre-voiced TV host and pasta sauce pusher Loyd ‘no, it’s spelled with one L’ Grossman is to return to our screens on Simon Cowell’s ‘X-Factor-for-grub’ show Food Glorious Food.
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From:Set The Video: NASA: Triumph and Tragedy, BBC Two, Wednesday, 24 June, 9pm