Not the most hilarious story, but
I was on the first series of 'Ready, Steady, Cook' back in the mid-90s. There had been hardly any male contestants so it was a bit of a shoo-in, I guess. Nothing much else to say except:
1) You don't select or bring the stuff yourself - they choose it and get it for you (or used to) from a supermarket at the back of the studio.
2) The main cooking bit is done in real time; the top and tail have a long-ish break so the chefs can work out what to do.
3) Fern Britton was absolutely lovely.
4) So, believe it or not, was Ainsley Harriott. Even when I made the mistake of asking him what he did.
5) Brian 'I'm from Yarkshar, me' Turner, however, was an utter cnut.
6) I didn't win the first prize (a set of posh knives) but I did win the CASH. Yeah! Take that, The Man!!
7) The production team spent a lot of time worrying out loud whether they'd get a second series. I seem to remember they did. And possibly a third, but I'm not sure.
8) They also got me to do a live one at the NEC shortly after (again, believe it or not, but Anthony Worrall Thompson was really nice and charming).
9) A few months later, the production team asked me and mrs sponge if we wanted to go on a new series they were doing about decorating houses. We declined. Not sure what happened to that one either. Called something like 'Changing Rooms'...?
( sponge monkey is knitting himself, Fri 12 Jun 2009, 13:07, Reply)