When the cameras start rolling on Celebrity MasterChef, the contestants may be the ones sweating over the stoves, but there is plenty going on behind the scenes. The 21st series has a new judging partnership at its heart, with chef Giorgio Locatelli joining food critic Grace Dent. Dent said that filming, which takes place at Birmingham's Digbeth Loc Studios, could last for 12 or 13 hours a day, with cameras rolling continuously.
"I'd love to come here with a character and go, 'this is how I'm going to come across', but I don't think you could keep it up for very long," she said. "They're filming continually and I don't have any control over how they cut me, so really you're just getting the real me." Dent has been based in Birmingham for a year and said she felt "like a part of the furniture" in the city. "I do live here most of the time," she said.
"I love Birmingham, I love the shopping, I love the people. "I never feel lonely in Birmingham, because there's always someone that wants to talk to me, and once you get talking, it goes on and on because people love a little gossip." Despite being a long way from home, Italian chef Locatelli said the city was "very welcoming", adding that living in the city's Jewellery Quarter was "really, really nice". "The people are happy to have a chat with you and tell you about themselves, and so that fitted very well," he said.
His only complaint was about the British winter, which he said was "a killer". "We got up in the darkness and rain and then we went back in the darkness and rain in the night," he said. Both judges praised their workplace at Digbeth Loc.
"We are in this fantastic purpose-built building with this incredible studio," Locatelli said. "They've got a really nice space for us." Dent added that the studio was a "complete treat" and was "busy all year round" with MasterChef filming. The pair, who had been working together for the first time, said they were initially "a bit shy" around each other.
Locatelli had come straight from MasterChef Italia, while Dent was already established on the British version. But as they got to know each other, Dent, who is originally from Cumbria, said she made Locatelli laugh and joked that her northern accent had begun to infiltrate his Italian one. The judges said they deliberately took different approaches to scrutinising contestants' food.
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