‘People have had more chance to practise in lockdown!’ MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace and John Torode laud contestants ahead of finale and slam barbecues in candid chat
John Torode and Gregg Wallace have waxed lyrical about the ‘extraordinary array’ of cooks in the MasterChef as the finale approaches.
The celebrity cooking gurus, 56 and 55, told Radio Times, they had been blown away by the talent of the cooks on the show, which has has now reached the quarter-finals, describing them as as the ‘most extraordinary array’.
Gregg put the high standard of cooking down to being at home in lockdown and having more time to learn new skills.
There they are: John Torode and Gregg Wallace have waxed lyrical about the ‘extraordinary array’ of cooks in the MasterChef as the finale approaches
He said: ‘It must be because people have been at home all week long, not just at the weekends, and so they have had more chance to practise.’
John, who lives with wife Lisa Faulkner in north London, added: ‘And in lockdown, people started to try out things they didn’t think they could do.’
The show has managed to continue production amid pandemic, but it may be changed, and the pair joke that the restrictions put in place may remain in future productions.
John joked: ‘I don’t know if Gregg and I will ever stand side by side again. It doesn’t seem to make much difference and for the cameras it might be easier.’
Not great! Gregg Wallace, 56, has insisted he’s never been to a good barbecue ahead of Easter weekend as the MasterChef finale approaches
Gregg added: ‘Each contestant now cooks at least two plates of food, so John and I get one plate each. There is no sharing of food now. That will stay.
‘John and I don’t have to share a dressing room any more, either, which is a great pleasure. No longer do I have to have his sweaty cycling gear hanging on my door!’
Out now! Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times
The presenters have fronted the BBC cookery show for 17 years, working on two series per year together [John is not involved in the professional version] and John has even been the best man at Gregg’s wedding.
The stars also spoke of their dislike for barbecues, with Gregg adding he once saw a man turning a sausage that was ‘on fire’.
The duo were scathing about the quality of food produced, adding every barbecue has been ‘rubbish’.
Gregg said: ‘Men who only ever go into a kitchen to throw beer cans away suddenly seek to perfect one of the most difficult techniques known to man… Every barbecue I have ever been to was rubbish.
‘I turn up and find the same lump of uncooked meat on a paper plate and I have to try to cut it with a plastic fork in one hand and a drink in the other.’
Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times.
New skills: John who lives with wife Lisa Faulkner in north London, added: ‘And in lockdown, people started to try out things they didn’t think they could do’