COME Dine With Me’s Dave Lamb has revealed the show was supposed to be VERY different – as it marks 20 years on air.
Dave, 56, has provided the Channel 4 show’s iconic narration since the very beginning.
Dave Lamb has narrated Come Dine With Me for 20 years[/caption]
A group of amateur cooks compete to win £1,000[/caption]
The show initially looked quite different[/caption]
As viewers know, Come Dine With Me features five amateur cooks hosting dinner parties among themselves across a week – hoping to win a £1,000 cash prize.
Speaking to Jane Garvey and Fi Glover on their podcast Off Air with Jane and Fi, Dave shared details about the programme’s beginnings.
As it turns out, the show initially didn’t have the comedic element that fans know today.
Dave said: “I think they did a pilot and it was quite a straight show at that point.
“Channel 4 took the decision to audition comedy writer-performers as a narrator, so that they could add a little something to it at that point, coming in from the voiceover.
“Once we actually got into the studio to record, we all stepped back from that a little bit.
“‘This is a bit too much, we can’t shout like that at people while they’re trying to cook.’
“Over the years, it’s grown organically into the shout-fest that it currently is.”
Away from the Channel 4‘s show voiceover booth, Dave is also an actor and comedian.
He has appeared in series including Goodness Gracious Me and presented CBBC game show Horrible Histories: Gory Games.
In the same interview, Dave discussed his future on Come Dine With Me.
Having now worked on the show for two decades, does he want to stay on?
He told the podcast hosts: “I’m in a really good place with it at the moment.
“I think the show is as good as it’s ever been. Yes, I would like to continue doing it. I’m enjoying it.”
Come Dine With Me airs on Channel 4.
Dave’s humorous voiceover adds to the show’s storytelling[/caption]
Channel 4’s best competition shows
Channel 4 boasts a number impressive competition shows, but which ones are really the best?
Four in a Bed
- Reality competition show Four in a Bed has been airing on Channel 4 since 2010. It follows four couples as they take turns to stay at each others B&Bs and hotels, rating their stays along the way. The couple with the establishment voted best value for money are the winners.
Come Dine With Me
- Come Dine With Me has been staple British viewing since 2005, providing some outrageous telly moments over the years. Like Four in a Bed, the series moves around to different properties as it follows four contestants as they each host a (supposedly) gourmet dinner party for each other. After each dinner the guests score the host out of 10, will the winner being revealed on the final evening.
The Great British Bake Off
- Another national treasure, The Great British Bake Off welcomes a group of 12 amateur bakers to put their culinary skills to the test with Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith judging their efforts. One contestant is eliminated each week until the final three face off in the last week.
Bake Off: The Professionals
- Bake Off: The Professionals puts a twist on GBBO, pitting two teams of professional pastry chefs against each other in every episode. It’s up to judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden to determine who has what it takes to make it through to the final.
