Celebrity MasterChef: Dominic Littlewood admits being on the show ‘changed me as a person’

Virgin Radio

11 Aug 2022, 11:16

The new series of Celebrity MasterChef is well underway, and one former contestant is praising the cooking competition for changing his life forever. 

The 17th series kicked off last night (Wednesday 10th August) with Nancy Dell’Olio becoming the first star of the run to be booted off. 

Now, series 15 contestant Dominic Littlewood has revealed how the star-studded version of the intense cooking show still has a tremendous impact on his life, two years after taking part.

Speaking exclusively to virginradio.co.uk, the Cowboy Builders host explained: “Celebrity MasterChef changed me as a person. I only made it through to whatever it was, round two or three, I can't remember but it didn't go far, but it really opened my eyes up to how enjoyable cooking can be and how you don't need to buy jars of sauces.

“Ever since then, my whole diet and lifestyle has changed. I gave up meat in December so I haven't eaten meat for nine months. I make sauces, I experiment. I use YouTube to show me how to do things. And then myself and my girlfriend, we have a lot of pleasure actually home cooking.”

Dom is no stranger to a telly competition, having also taken part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2007, but the rogue trade expert admitted he learned more about himself in the kitchen than in the ballroom. 

He continued: “I would say MasterChef changed me more than Strictly Come Dancing did in a way that I wasn't expecting, and I'm really enjoying home-cooking now a lot more. I've got a drawer full of about 30 different spices, before all I had was a jar of Dolmio, now I'm putting the effort in!”

The changes Celebrity MasterChef inspired even helped Dom to lose weight, with a new diet based around eating good, fresh food, as opposed to finding “freezer-to-stomach-in-30-minutes” meals. 

He added: “I quite often batch cook, so I'll make enough to freeze for the rest of the week. It's obviously healthy, I feel better for it. I lost six kilos without doing anything other than changing my diet, eating less meat and bread. It changed me, and it's opened my eyes to what's out there now and how much more your stomach can appreciate it.”

Dom made it a little bit further than 2022's Nancy at least. The Italian lawyer lost out to Paul Chuckle, comedian Kae Kurd, Love Island star Faye Winter and Danny Jones of McFly overnight. 

If he’s not cooking up a storm in the kitchen, Dom is helping people avoid scams, and he recently shared his top tips for escaping the pitfalls of dodgy online purchases. 

Celebrity MasterChef 2022 continues tonight (Thursday 11th August) on BBC One at 8pm.