Ian 'H' Watkins thinks appearing on 'Celebrity MasterChef' was scarier than performing in front of a huge crowd.
Ian 'H' Watkins thinks appearing on Celebrity MasterChef was scarier than performing in front of a huge crowd with Steps
The 48-year-old singer has played in front of thousands of fans at shows with his Steps bandmates Claire Richards, Lee Latchford-Evans, Faye Tozer, and Lisa Scott-Lee, but found participating on the beloved BBC show far more nerve-wracking because he couldn't handle the pressure of cooking in front of presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode.
He said: "The 'MasterChef' kitchen is intimidating. I’m used to performing in the O2 Arena – I can do that with my eyes closed. Ask me to boil an egg in front of John and Gregg and I fall to pieces!"
The 'Better Best Forgotten' hit-maker - who will be competing against the likes of 'Geordie Shore' icon Charlotte Crosby, BT Sport host Craig Doyle and DJs Snoochie Shy and Edith Bowman on the programme – added he that he chose to appear on the show because he wanted to improve his cooking skills.
He explained: "I am known by my friends and family for not being able to cook! I wanted to develop a skill I could involve my children and family with going forward."
This will be Ian's second stint on a competitive TV show after the singer appeared in 'Dancing on Ice' in 2020.
In the ITV programme, Ian - who is father to eight-year-old twins Macsen and Cybi - made history after he became the first contestant to dance in a same-sex couple, but the '5,6,7,8' chart-topper revealed that the network wasn't initially keen to let him perform alongside a man.
Speaking on the 'White Wine Question Time' podcast, he told former 'Loose Women' anchor Kate Thornton: "For me fundamentally as a person, I wanted to be completely authentic the way I presented myself.
"Especially because I'm a dad now, I wanted my children to see daddy living his best life. And it's something I had asked for so long for so many years on all those contestant-based shows that you do interviews for.
"I've always asked the question and I always had a 'No', but this time I was in a very different headspace and I said to the producers, 'If you want me then great, but these are my conditions. If you don't want to do that, then I will bow out.' I was that sure of myself and it was that important to me that I didn't want to be paired with the opposite sex."
The nineteenth series of 'Celebrity MasterChef' begins on BBC One on Tuesday (13.08.24) at 8pm.
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