‘You're only as good as your last dish…'

Footy legend John Barnes on testing his skills in the MasterChef kitchen

- TESS LAMACRAFT

Spatulas at the ready!

Celebrity MasterChef returns to BBC1 for a 15th series this week, with a fresh batch of 20 famous faces hoping their culinary skills impress straight-talking judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace.

Stepping into the famous kitchen for the first heat are former England footballer John Barnes, Death in Paradise star Shyko Amos, comedian Judi Love, The Apprentice 2019 fan favourite Thomas Skinner and singer Myles Stephenson, who won The X Factor in 2017 with boy band Rak-Su.

Here, in an exclusive interview, John, 56, tells TV Times about his food influences and reveals that he has something in common with Monica from Friends...

Why did you want to take part in Celebrity MasterChef?

I love cooking and I’ve always enjoyed watching the show, so when the opportunity came up, I thought it was time to put my money where my mouth is. I was actually looking forward to doing a bit of showing off, but it’s the same as when people watch football on the pitch and think, ‘Oh, I could do that!’ The reality is, it’s a lot harder when you’re being judged by experts and discovering the truth about your skills.

What are your food influences?

Coming from Jamaica, I love spicy food. Jamaican food is a real mash-up of Indian and Chinese and our national dish is curried goat. Jamaican cooking is full of garlic, chilli, cumin and peppers. I’m like Monica Geller in [hit US sitcom] Friends – you can never have too much garlic!

Who does the cooking at home?