To ask if anyone has been on come dine with me?

[Mammyloveswine]

Isolating and binge watching couples come dine with me!

Would love to hear from anyone who has been on about what ifs really like behind the scenes!

Also.. if you were going to go on what would your menu be?!

I think I would keep it simple with:

Starter: sweet chilli king prawns and chorizo on a bed of rocket with home made bread.

Main: mozzarella and pesto stuffed chicken wrapped in Parma ham, with tendersteam broccoli and green beans and crushed roasted baby potatoes.

Desert: chocolate torte.

I'd be interested in those recipes too karma

Jane, take your money and get off my property - immortal line. Also Chris with his baked bean stuffed peppers, chicken a l'orange and watered down wine - he was hoping the guests would bring some, they failed (brought cider or beer) so he was forced to decant the one bottle and dilute it.

However Dawn Barry - I wanted to reach into the television and hug her and take her to an AA meeting - could so relate. She had been in rehab but everything became too much for her in the end.

I haven’t but I would love too.

My menu would be:

Some sort of pate with a red onion jam and crusty bread (with real butter)

Beetroot Risotto with rocket and goats cheese

Cookies and cream cheesecake with fresh berries.

The best bit is the voice over/narrator.
He's really funny imho.
The celebrity ones are really false,too much fake friendliness.
Nobody would like my menu..

Assortment of fresh sliced melons (summer ) or for winter variety of warm garlic crusty breads
Vegetarian toad in the hole onion gravy fresh veg
Apple crumble with vegan ice cream

Coffee,tea,mints
Entertainment? Pendulum😏

The manager of our local pub was on both Come Dine With Me and Four In A Bed. He got into a bit of trouble for winding up another FIAB contestant at breakfast.

If anyone remembers, about 15 years ago there was a reality show called Masters and Servants, where two families took it in turns to be waited on / be the servant. Relatives of an acquaintance did the “Master” bit but then refused to be the “Servants”. That caused a bit of a stooshie.

Yes the whole show is only funny because of Dave Lamb. He says what we’re all shouting at the TV.

That sounds good to me karma.
But I think I am so used to the veggie option being a salad leaf my standards may not be as high as your average Come Diner...
Not sure about the entertainment though... Do you mean that 00s dance movement? You'd have to get me hammered for that!

Dh applied for couples cdwm without me knowing. The producers called him back but filming would have been while we were on our hols. Good job really, as I wouldn't have done it with him, we're not at all good in the kitchen together and I'd have never agreed to it if I'd known he'd applied!

I applied to go on it but didn't get through the first selection round. Obviously not interesting or controversial enough to make good tv.

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken

I always thought I’d do a Christmas Day menu and have Father Christmas visit and maybe sing carols.

Flipping genius, I’m nicking that.

@selflove

Years ago there was a poster who was on it, who was updating us daily with everything, it was fascinating! They had to retake everything so often they didn't eat til almost midnight some days! And the black taxi at the end just drove them to the end of the road to do their scores, then they got a "normal" mini cab home 😂

The TV team found the thread somehow and it all got removed, and the poster had breached the "non disclosure" part of her contract where she wasn't allowed to talk about it before it aired (or at all?) and she was in big trouble, and stopped posted. It was fascinating stuff though!

Oh I remember that thread! She was in Birmingham as I recall.

What am I missing? Why do they have to do lots of retakes? Surely they just film it (once) and therefore they have it on film??

Nope but my lovely colleague has just finished filming this Friday gone! Because of COVID rules they were taken to an alternate location and not the usual contestants houses, she’s exhausted mine very late nights

@Slumcat oh this bodes well no need to worry about my knicker drawer being on the telly

Yup she was thrilled no one could snoop around, she said there was a lot of stop and starting of filming, they couldn’t really talk until the camera was rolling, quite strict she said but she had a good time she enjoy the company of the others as well, they were trying to direct her conversation as well she said it was obvious they wanted her to slate the others, she’s a good egg though, can’t wait to see her on it

Does anyone remember the episode where that awful woman was compared to a lizard?

This is potentially outing so I won't give too much away about my specific episode but I went on it a few years ago.

The main thing i remember about it was how tiring it was. The day you cook, the film crew turn up about 8am and are with you all day except maybe an hour or so when they go and have lunch and you are trying to finish bits off. The guests arrived around 6 i think and you don't leave until midnight or later so its such a long day. When you are served each course the film crew would do funny things eg. You couldn't eat until they had filmed you nodding your head and smiling with food on your plate and things like that. When I was on it we couldn't have any alcohol on the table except in glasses and no one was ever refilled on camera. During the interview process, you come up with topics of conversation and also interesting things about you so when the guests root around your house, they are not really rooting round, the camera crew are in the room they need to be in and point out where you have to look. The taxi that you do the scoring in only takes you round the block and then you get another taxi home too!

You got £120 towards the cost of your night when I did it.

My vet was on it and won. He said you were prompted to say particular things about the other contestants and asked leading questions.
I know of 2 other people who went on, both came off really badly in the edit, one of them deservedly the other not so. All said it was pretty much staged from start to finish.

Does anyone remember the episode with the single mum who was a foodie and liked fine dining so did a fine dining menu for her night and one of the guests completely ripped into her?

I remember one of her dishes having gold leaf. They totally went for her about the menu being pretentious and too posh.

She was so upset and said it was her one luxury in life and saved any spare cash she had and collected coupons and used deals so she could afford a few expensive meals out a year.

I felt awful for her because he was vile. Her menu looked really nice and she was one of the few that could actually cook.

My favourite episode is a really old one, 4 fab Scottish ladies (one was a white whitch) and one bloke who cooked pigs trotters. It was brilliant.
I can still recall the last lady had a apron on saying ‘you’ll have had yer tea”.

Never been on it but I love watching. Does anyone remember a guy who didn't drink? He gave the guests alcohol free wine, thinking they wouldn't know but of course they sussed pretty quickly and he scored really badly. It was an entertaining episode.

@maddiemookins16mum I remember that one. He owned a casino in Ayr. They were also smoking in that ep. That wouldn't be shown now.

I've never been on, but I love binge watching Come Dine With Me
As for menu wise, I'm not fancy and I don't "do" dinner parties so it'd have to be a theme night - if you're coming to mine it'll probably be an 80s theme so let's see

how about melon boat for starters, parma ham and asparagus for the meat eaters)
chicken in a basket or risotto
Vienetta for afters

Oh and I've got the disco going for entertainment aspect so expect Bananarama, Kylie, Pet Shop Boys, Rick Astley etc

@AnimalCrossingNewHorizons and TheSlayer you're welcome to recipes, they're here

• Cucumber and fennel salad with dill - very very thinly sliced cucumber and fennel, dressing is white wine vinegar / olive oil vinaigrette and then just scatter fresh dill over the top

• Whole spiced roast cauliflower with tahini yoghurt sauce, flaked almonds and pomegranate seeds, served with giant couscous and roast veg skewers
  Bring a large pan of water to the boil, adding 1tbsp cumin, 1tbsp coriander, 1tbsp cardamom seeds, 5-10 cloves, 1tsp turmeric, a cinnamon stick. Take the outer leaves off the cauli and then place it whole into the spiced water. Cook for 5-7 minutes depending on size of cauli, then carefully lift it out and let it dry a bit on a board or in a colander - keep the cooking water.
  While the cauli is part-cooking, thread cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions and courgette chunks onto skewers. Season with salt and pepper.
  Put the cauli onto a baking tray on a silicone mat if you have one, baking paper if not. Roast the cauli for 30-40 mins. After 10 mins put the skewers in.
  In the spiced water, cook the giant couscous as per cooking instructions. If cooking for guests, fish the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon out first otherwise they'll get an unexpected flavour burst.
  For the tahini sauce mix together 1/3 cup unsweetened soy yoghurt (I like the Tesco free from), 1-2 tbsp tahini, and thin with water until you have a thick but pourable consistency. Pour it over the whole cauliflower to serve, topping with flaked almonds and pomegranate seeds.

• aubergine-stuffed mushroom - roast 2 aubergines in the oven for about 30 mins until completely soft. Mix tin chopped tomatoes with 1 diced onion, 1 chopped clove of garlic, 2tsp cumin, 1tsp paprika, 1tsp coriander. Put some of the mix in the bottom of a dish just to create a thin layer. Place large mushrooms in facing upwards. Take the skin off the aubergine and combine with the rest of the tomato mixture. Use it to stuff the mushrooms. Bake 30 mins or until mushrooms are done.

• either tofish, chips and mushy peas, or chickpea and apricot tagine with couscous
  Tofish - I did this recipe a while ago and it was amazing itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/tofish-and-chips-vegan-fish-and-chips/

Tagine - this is my favourite recipe www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/roasted_cauliflower_47346

Cheese - the stuff that doesn't taste like plastic vomit is ruinously expensive but very nice. I splash out at Christmas and Easter from here lafauxmagerie.com

@selflove

Years ago there was a poster who was on it, who was updating us daily with everything, it was fascinating! They had to retake everything so often they didn't eat til almost midnight some days! And the black taxi at the end just drove them to the end of the road to do their scores, then they got a "normal" mini cab home 😂

The TV team found the thread somehow and it all got removed, and the poster had breached the "non disclosure" part of her contract where she wasn't allowed to talk about it before it aired (or at all?) and she was in big trouble, and stopped posted. It was fascinating stuff though!

Oh my god I remember all of this! Classic MN!

Love this thread.. I used to love watching this show, but haven’t seen it in a few years now as it all seemed to be the same after a while. I do enjoy thinking about what I’d do if I were on it.