Gethin Jones: "I was more scared for Celebrity MasterChef than Strictly!"
The presenter fills RadioTimes.com in on his MasterChef experience.
From Blue Peter to Strictly Come Dancing, Gethin Jones has had his fare share of performing complex tasks on camera.
But the presenter tells RadioTimes.com that nothing comes close to the experience he had on Celebrity MasterChef, which he'll appear on on July 15th.
"I’d like to think I’m quite good under pressure – I’ve broken bones on camera, I’ve achieved life time ambitions, I’ve been really scared, I’ve been attacked by an alligator – but I could not for the life of me work out why my hand was shaking so much when I was trying to chop a spud in that kitchen," he explained.
"It’s the weirdest thing in the world. I was laughing at myself for how nervous I was! It was really really crazy."
In 2007, Gethin took part on Strictly Come Dancing, and even made it to the semi-finals with his professional dance partner Camilla Dallerup with little prior dancing experience.
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So, what made MasterChef so difficult?
"With Strictly you knew you were going to be scared but cooking, you think is going to be ok because you do it, so I think the element of surprise got me," he said.
"You start doing really stupid things like Dom [Dominic Littlewood] who cooked an egg timer. That’s the kind of s*** the show makes you do. He told me about it on The One Show, and I couldn’t get my teeth back in my mouth I was laughing too much."
The presenter did manage to shake the nerves, however, and thanks the show for improving his cooking skills and inspiring him to invest in his very own "spice rack."
"I found myself going into lockdown and presenting myself these amazing meals just for me. Just making these beautiful meals and then putting it in front of the TV for another day of lockdown!" he said.
He added: "My friend came over for dinner because I was practicing my cooking on her and a girl’s never stayed in my flat before and she was like, 'Wow, look at your spice rack!' I mean I’ve got everything here. Even cardamon pods! I wouldn’t have even known what to do with that before."
Dinner at yours then, Gethin? We wouldn't say no!
Celebrity MasterChef continues tonight, 9pm on BBC One and is available to catch up on BBC iPlayer. To see what else is on, have a look at our TV Guide.
