MasterChef host Gregg Wallace is on a mission to end kebab snobbery
WHEN most people think of a kebab, they imagine a 3am pit-stop in a takeaway after a few too many pints.
But Gregg Wallace is on a one-man mission to turn around the fortunes of the humble meat-filled pitta.
The MasterChef presenter has launched a scathing attack on people who look down their noses at the fast-food favourite.
He reckons it is about time we started celebrating kebabs for just how good they are.
Gregg said: “The one that troubles me is why kebabs have got such a bad name.
“I think it’s because working-class people eat them, so everyone thinks they must be s**t.
“If you get some grilled lean meat, which is not fried, is charcoal grilled, and you put it in bread with no butter and raw vegetables and salad with no dressing, what on earth is the problem?
"Any nutritionist would say, ‘Get right on it!’” Gregg said he had previously been called out for eating at chain restaurants and said it was time to put an end to food snobbery.
He added: “I think it’s a class thing. There are people that would honestly think Pret a Manger is healthier than Greggs. Why?
“When I lived in Whitstable, Kent, I used a Harvester all the time in Herne Bay and people used to say, ‘I didn’t expect to see you in here’. Why wouldn’t I be in here?
“It’s the perception middle-class people eat in one and working-class people eat in the other, so the working-class one should be bad for you. It’s absolutely rubbish.
“Food is the only snobbery allowed. Imagine pulling up in your expensive car alongside somebody at the lights with a cheap car and saying, ‘Is that all you’ve got?’
“But people do it with food.”
As someone who has had more kebabs than most in my time, I’m right behind Gregg with this.
Vogue's washed booze away
VOGUE Williams looks all bright and breezy strolling in London yesterday – and it’s a safe bet she didn’t have a boozy weekend.
The reality star, married to teetotaller Spencer Matthews from Made In Chelsea, said she can’t hack drinking any more.
On podcast That’s A First! with comedians Maisie Adam and Tom Lucy, Vogue, who was snapped in the Caribbean over New Year, below, said: “Spenny doesn’t drink, I drink the odd time.
“I’ll do it once a month and then I get such a violent hangover.
"The last one I had I had to sit in the shower. I was like, ‘I can’t stand up’. I had to get Spenny to get me a Coke and a bar of chocolate.”
At least there’s little risk of a wild night in lockdown.
Vernon's meal peri, peri early
THE I’m A Celeb finalists’ feast took place at 6.30am, Vernon Kay has revealed.
The TV and radio host, who came third in the 2020 series, said bosses scheduled his three-course dinner with runner-up Jordan North and winner Giovanna Fletcher for the bizarre early-morning time slot.
Talking about his time in the Welsh castle, the TV presenter said on Sunday Brunch: “I had a full-on peri peri chicken at 6.30 in the morning, with medium spiced chicken wings and sweet potato mash.”
Vernon also revealed he shed a lot of weight and still hasn’t got his appetite back after the ITV competition.
He said: “I was hungry for about the first five days and then you just get used to eating horrible rice and beans, and whatever you win in the trials.
“I lost two and a half stone and I’ve only put on nine pounds since I came out.”
Graham: Ali's not in dog house
GRAHAM Norton defended Alison Hammond after she put her foot in it during an interview as the new Friday host of This Morning.
Alison asked about his beloved dog and he told her, deadpan, that it had died.
But he spoke up for her after she was trolled.
On The Graham Norton Show on Virgin Radio yesterday, he said: “Alison Hammond got so much flak for apparently being insensitive.
She said, ‘How’s your dog?’ I said, ‘Oh, it’s dead’. I did it in a deliberate way to be awkward. It was funny.
“I love Alison Hammond and if there was any awkwardness, it was my fault. I mean, I made it a bad thing.”
Nerves were there
MARTINE McCutcheon was relieved to be rid of her swan costume after being revealed on Saturday’s episode of ITV’s The Masked Singer.
Martine said: “I was especially nervous as the swan mask was more like a heavy wired sculpture and it weighed a ton.
"I couldn’t see anything, so yes, nerves were there.”
Playing Camilla
EMERALD Fennell is shocked by the reaction to her portrayal of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in The Crown.
She said: “When you sign on as an actor for anything, you know it’s not real, completely.
"I naively came into it thinking, ‘I thought Camilla would be a really interesting character’. People are quite enraged.”
Financial support for Elma
LOVE Island’s Elma Pazar has asked fans for financial help because she is out of work due to the Covid pandemic.
Most read in Bizarre
She wrote on Twitter: “If anyone wants to donate to my bank account to cheer me up, I’ll be happy to send you over my details.
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"No time-wasters please.
"Many thanks, kind regards XXX.”
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