Matthew Pinsent says he's asked to do Celebrity MasterChef again: "They wouldn't let me!"
The Olympic rower is taking part in the 2020 series.
Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent will be swapping his oars for a spatula as he enters the Celebrity MasterChef kitchen in the last set of heats for the 2020 series.
But although he filmed for the show back in March, and his episode will air on July 22nd, Matthew just can't get enough of the kitchen and has already asked if he can go back for a second stint.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, he revealed: "I already asked them!"
He continued: "They wouldn't let me do it again. I think the easy way of putting it is if anyone came to me and asked if they should do it, I would encourage them because it was really fun. It was a really nice mix of challenging, scary, and being out of your comfort zone."
Celebrity MasterChef contestants don't usually return to the show unless they make the finals, and then return to judge new contestants' meals.
So, Matthew will have to lap up his current experience, which he tells us went better than he expected it to.
"I really enjoyed it. I think I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I was quite nervous going in," he said.
So what made him sign up for the BBC One show?
"I wanted to learn to be a better cook," he explained. "And of all the celebrity formats, it's quite gentle. You stand with the judges on the quality of cooking rather than a public vote and everyone has kind of seen what can go wrong in the kitchen before. Ultimately, I'm not looking to open a restaurant and the risk is relatively low."
He added: "You can learn a huge amount and I did . The judges were always saying to use every filming day as a learning experience. The pro kitchen was just amazing because you see people who are doing it for a living, so I was writing down lots of notes in this little book I used to take to filming days."
And it sounds like the experience certainly paid off, as Matthew says the taste of his cooking has improved - although his wife would beg to differ.
"My wife says it's not necessarily the skill that has gone up, although I think I have [improved], it's the confidence," he said.
"I'm not afraid of any recipe now. I think before, I'd be quite put off by things. It has been transformative of my skills."
Matthew has become such a dab hand in the kitchen, his kids have even been putting in requests for particular meals.
"I've been cooking a whole lot more in lockdown and we seldom eat the same thing. There are a few things that my children say to definitely do that again. That's cool!" he added.
We don't know about you, but we'd take that as a compliment!
Celebrity MasterChef continues tonight at 9pm on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer – find out what else to watch with our TV Guide.
