COOKING!Celebrity Masterchef, 8.30pm, BBC One
Aside from the odd good run in the Champion’s League, the city of Liverpool appears to have given up on trying to win tournaments*. And with the demise of Brookside there isn’t a great deal for it to lay claim to on the telly either. But someone somewhere (perhaps those people on the City of Culture committee) decided that the Scousers needed to be back winning tournaments and being on the telly and thus ensured that hundreds of them got places on this year’s Celebrity Masterchef. With various Liverpudlian celebs, inclusing most of the cast of Brookie, they surely could not fail to bring some telly/competition glory back to the Mersey.
It was all going to plan, as well, with three of them making the semi-finals. However, they didn’t count on serial reality show veteran/Broomcupboard presenter/Top of The Pops killer (well, along with Fearne Cotton) Andi Peters and his obessive-with-food ways. During those semi-finals, Peters managed to oust Louis Emerick, crushing the idea of an all-Liverpool final. Still, Liz McLarnon and Mark Moraghan are hanging on in there.
Who will win tonight, though? They’ve all had moments of brilliance, but all have had monumental cock-ups (not least Mark walking out in last night’s episode). They have all also been on a ‘journey’ (DRRRRINK!) and have cried several times an episode about how much it all means to them. Gregg and John love Liz and it’s been edited to look like she might do it, but I recall Emily from last year and the way she kept making John cry, so I call victory for one of the men. Let’s hope for the people of Liverpool that Mark does it, even if I don’t actually care who wins that much because they’ve all annoyed me with their over-emoting.
And that last point is perhaps the core problem with this series(well, alongside the three nights a week rather than five thing). In Masterchef proper, a week each of semi-finals and finals makes sense, because the whole thing runs for several weeks and you have a lot invested in the contestants. For the celebrity variant, one week with both semis and the final would seem to be more logical – there is only so many times I can watch people who don’t care that much pretending it is their life’s dream. Still, it’s a minor niggle in what remains an entertaining, frustrating and delightful show – pretty much everything you want from a reality programme really – and with added food, which is always good.
*OK, OK, they make a darn sight more effort than my team (Grimsby Town), or indeed many other British teams, but neither Liverpool or Everton has seen a Premiership victory, so my point sort of works. Ish.
