MasterChef judges share their taste in telly
Gregg Wallace and John Torode on their guilty pleasures - and what makes them cry
What is your guilty pleasure?
Gregg: Coach Trip. Contestants go around Europe on a bus and the other contestants vote them off. I can relate to the little bald, tubby gay guy – apart from the tubbiness.
John: Ice Road Truckers. I’ve stopped watching EastEnders because I don’t have time. At least with Ice Road Truckers it’s on nine times a night.
Gregg: I’d rather stuff a whole aubergine into my mouth.
What makes you blush?
Gregg: My singing display on Just the Two of Us with Carol Decker five years ago.
John: Lots of things make me blush.
Gregg: Saucy female contestants make him blush. There’s a contestant coming up in the new show and John said, “Look at the state of your veg,” and she replies, “Well, you should see my room.”
John: That made me blush.
What makes you blubber?
Gregg: It’s a Wonderful Life. The first time I saw it, I was in floods.
John: I find lots of movies make me cry – like the one about the guy with the really big nose...
Gregg: Pinocchio?
John: Despicable Me. He’s supposed to be a real meanie, but he’s won over by the orphans he adopts.
Which of you is soppier?
Gregg: John by far. He’d fall into tears over a good sausage roll.
John: Not unless it’s got ketchup!
Gregg: Oh mate, he gets emotional over so much. If someone cooks brilliantly: tearful John. If someone goes out: tearful John. It’s hard to find an untearful John.
John: I don’t cry! I do get emotional.
What would you delete from your wife’s watchlist?
Gregg: Next Top Model.
John: What we call property porn – Escape to the Country, Location, Location, Location... No movie I’m longing to watch can compete.
What show would you bring back?
Gregg: It’s a Knockout. You weren’t here in the 70s, John, but picture this: people dressed as chimps attached to a wire on a greasy track, trying to knock things over while giants throw things at them – it was just brilliant!
John: Richard & Judy. They were great: they rambled on about nothing and the whole nation was addicted.
What would you like to see commissioned?
Gregg: A BBC1 series: me looking at castles in Europe. I’m a huge history buff.
John: He’s a pom and I’m an Aussie - I’d like to present the 101 top beaches of the world.
Who controls the remote?
Gregg: My wife. I’m too old to understand it. I pressed it the other day and the conservatory folded up.
John: Anybody except for me. I get last dibs.
How much would it take to get you into the jungle?
Gregg: It’s a cost in terms of time: it would take an extra two months in the diary to get me there. But I think I’d fare well: I come from Peckham so I’m good at roughing it, and none of the bushtucker stuff looks worse than what my mum was serving in the 70s. She was a terrible cook.
John: Never. Never ever ever ever.
Most embarrassing TV moment?
Gregg: Being really fat on MasterChef used to embarrass me. I’ve since lost a lot of weight. It’s been a three-pronged attack over three years: my wife has had me exercising, turning to healthier foods and reducing the alcohol. It was no miracle cure; it was a lifestyle adjustment.
This is an edited version of an article from the issue of Radio Times magazine that went on sale on 10 January 2011.
