Celebrity Christmas Come Dine with Me Australia
More Christmas than Celebrity, this Lifestyle special is the equivalent of Christmas stuffing.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under Reviews, Top Stories
As Christmas specials go, the nicest thing I can say about Celebrity Come Dine with Me Australia is that it’s cheap and cheerful.
More Christmas than Celebrity (only just), this airs on LifeStyle ahead of another full season in the new year.
There are four celebs this time around: Myf Warhurst, Steve Price, Simone Callahan and Anthony Koutoufides. I’d say Myf wins that battle, If you’re still wondering Simone Callahan used to be Simone Warne and ‘Kouta’ played AFL footy.
The Come Dine with Me format from the UK preceded My Kitchen Rules but in this market, but has since been usurped by the latter which thrives on killer casting and marketing. But essentially both involve participants cooking dinner parties and scoring one another.
Come Dine with Me is wryly narrated by James Valentine, who offers a bit of wit, but also over-narrates. It would be a better show if he was sitting at the table dropping his quips, at least it might provide some conflict.
Callahan cooks first starting with sandwiches as part of a straightforward cashed-up bogan menu devoid of vegetables. It turns out she’s never eaten broccoli, beans and all manner of greens. She also doesn’t eat prawns, prosciutto and god knows what else -but still manages to look fab. Steve Price is sceptical.
Kouta isn’t much better, admitting to never cooking. He leans on the home-cooked supervision of his mum and wears a Santa outfit. Steve Price is sceptical.
Myf at least stumps up with some grub that is her own and half-decent, but not without its flaws. Steve Price is sceptical.
Finally Steve Price, constantly referred to as “The Grinch” throughout, gets into the festive spirit with a spit roast. Admittedly it’s hard to feign a Christmas mood when you’ve probably filmed this in September or so. He’s determined to outdo the others.
Come Dine With Me is also well-known for the “snooping” element in which its participants nosey around each others’ homes. Myf is particularly drawn to the shirtless photo of Callahan’s partner. Otherwise, you get to see how these folk live, in case you’ve ever wondered. I hadn’t.
Aside from its lifestyle diversion, I do find myself wondering what’s the point of it all? On MKR there’s big cash at stake. On CDWM it’s slim pickings. Just $2000 on offer for charity, which Foxtel has never boosted since its inception a few year ago. Even at Christmas you’d think they could put Scrooge to one side and fork out $10,000 for a deserving charity. It’s supposed to be a “Special” after all. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 4 cast members got more than that, but maybe they were gracious enough to donate their services. One hopes.
That said, I do note with some interest some of the eclectic names who will appear in upcoming episodes: Lisa Curry, Matthew Mitcham, Maria Venuti, Carlotta, Gretel Killeen, Red Symons and Mark Holden.
Sadly, this festive special is really the TV equivalent of Christmas stuffing.
Celebrity Christmas Come Dine With Me Australia will air on Sunday, December 1 at 8.30pm
Celebrity Come Dine with Me Australia begins Tuesday January 7 at 8.30pm.
6 Responses
Just watched it actually and thought it was good – looking forward to a full season next year with the ‘celebrities’
The problem is the Australian celebrities are so guarded, they never let you see the real them. The UK version is so much better, they swear like sailors, get completely wasted and it’s actually very funny. I remember when Kim Woodburn from How Clean Is Your House was on. she is in her 60’s and was totally smashed barley being able to speak. The Aussies are far to sanitized.
“Finally Steve Price… gets into the festive spirit with a spit roast”
Terrible mental image there…
LifeStyle Channel Sun 8:30.
I just went to set my recorder for this, can’t find it on my EPG, checked the online guides and can’t find it anywhere!
Thanks for mentioning who Simone Callahan is David, I had no idea. So it’s 1 celebrity (Myf) and 3 others whom we may or may not know of. I do enjoy the normal version of this show, but I’m not so sure it works with a “celebrity” element based on what I’ve seen on the UK equivalent and I didn’t know who many of the UK celebrities were either.
This show is at it’s best when everyone gets a little tipsy… okay drunk and lets their guard down. Celebrities don’t tend to do that. Anyway, looking forward to a new season proper in 2014 and yes I agree the prize money should be increased.