BBC Celebrity MasterChef star left a 'quivering mess' over pressures of cooking show: 'Very scary!'

Paralympic star Stef Reid took part in BBC's Celebrity MasterChef in 2018

BBC
Olivia Ann Gantzer

By Olivia Ann Gantzer


Published: 22/08/2024

- 05:00

Stef Reid opened up about her 2018 experience on BBC's Celebrity MasterChef

Celebrity MasterChef is back on screens for its 19th series, with judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode back to give their verdicts on the culinary skills of a new set of famous faces.

Paralympic star Stef Reid, who took part in the 2018 series of the BBC show, spoke exclusively to GB News about her experience as she also opened up on an important Channel 4 documentary.


With Celebrity MasterChef currently on screens, Reid also reflected on her success in the show, which saw her reaching the quarter-finals.

"Oh my goodness, I was so nervous!" she told GB News as she recalled her experience. "It was that was the first time I had ever done anything like that outside of sport.

"And it's so funny, because in this one realm of life, I was so confident, you know, put me in a stadium full of 80,000 people - totally fine.

"I knew what I was doing... And yet put me in that kitchen and I am just reduced to like a quivering, nervous mess!"

Stef Reid

Paralympic star Stef Reid took part in BBC's Celebrity MasterChef in 2018

2018

Sharing her thoughts on judges Torode and Wallace both 59, the track and field star admitted: "They are very scary!

"Well, not really scary - but you just know they are really very honest. They will tell you exactly what they make of your food.

"They're both really lovely. They're both really fun. We had a lot of fun. Especially Gregg - actually, we had a really similar sense of humour in that we both really appreciate really sad and cheesy jokes!"

Reid, 39, was born in New Zealand to British parents and moved to Toronto, Canada when she was four years old. At 16, she was involved in a serious boating accident, with her life saved by a surgeon in Toronto who amputated her right leg below the knee.

Stef Reid

Paralympic athlete Stef Reid spoke exclusively to GB News

She is taking part in Channel 4's Path To Paris: Paralympic Dream, which will air this weekend and look into the stories of the Paralympians competing in this year's competition.

"It's impossible to properly convey all of the stories, all of the incredible things that you're seeing," Reid, 39, told GB News.

"And so to have a documentary like Paralympic Dreams, where you get a behind the scenes and look at what it's like being a para-athlete is so important."

She added: "And the thing is, I think as para-athletes, we take for granted you know, the lives that we live in, the things that we do to perform our sport.

"For me, it's just normal. It would be normal to, you know, turn to someone and say, 'hey, do you mind holding my legs while I hold this coffee?' And people will think, 'oh, that sounds like a really bizarre sentence,' but that's just such our everyday life.

Stef Reid

Paralympic athlete Stef Reid is starring in Channel 4's Path to Paris: Paralympic Dreams

"And so for someone else to be able to witness that and engage in it, it just gives you the ability to then see, appreciate, love, understand the sports you're going to see next week even more. And I mean, para-sport is awesome."

The new documentary - Path to Paris: Paralympic Dreams airs this Sunday, August 25 at 4.55pm on Channel 4. It follows five British athletes as they prepare for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and offers a unique insight into how National Lottery players support them on their journey.

National Lottery players have transformed Athletics in the UK, with more than £300million invested since National Lottery funding began. They support our elite athletes to win medals on the world stage and have invested in clubs, facilities and programmes across the country to enable more people to take part in the sport.

The second Episode of Path to Paris: Paralympic Dreams will air directly before the Games this Sunday. It will then be available to view on Channel 4's streaming service, alongside episode one. The Paralympics will be on Channel 4 from Wednesday, August 28.

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