It wasn’t until Ross Smyth picked up his phone to the team at MasterChef that he realised he was in for the experience of a lifetime.
The owner of a busy fiberglass manufacturing firm, 58-year-old businessman, Ross Smyth, didn’t think life could get any busier.
That was until he received a random call from the team at MasterChef earlier last year telling him he had made it onto the 17th series.
Ross, who is an avid cook at home, was entered into the competition by his daughter, Catherine Barnett, and says had it not been for her, he “would never have entered” himself off his own back, despite being a big fan of the show.
Series 17 of the popular BBC One show airs tonight (Monday March 1) at 9pm, with Ross kicking off the series in episode one alongside four other amateur cooks. They will compete against one another for two quarter-final places.
He said: “I didn’t even actually apply! It was my daughter, Catherine, who applied on my behalf unbeknown to me. It was amazing. I got a phone call from the MasterChef team and was thinking that they had the wrong person, that was until she fessed up and told me she had entered my name.
“She entered online and had sent in some pictures of my food that I had taken at home. I like to photograph my dishes and use them as a point of reference. My kids are keen cooks and we all send pictures of what we have been cooking on our phones. She sent them in and the people behind MasterChef obviously liked them.”
‘Surreal’
Heading down to London in October last year to film the latest series to hit our screens, Ross, who is a lover of the show, couldn’t believe he was walking on the set of a programme he and his family watch regularly.
“It was such a surreal experience. As a family we enjoy watching MasterChef and having seen it on the TV to then being in the actual studio, it was hard to believe. I had to pinch myself just to take it all in,” said Ross.
“On set they were very good and were very compliant with Covid-19 restrictions. We had to wear masks, there was hand sanitiser everywhere, and they even had people in place to keep us all in check and ensure we were socially distancing all the time.
“It was quite strange as you could walk over to one area to get something and they would say ‘remember to stand apart’. They were very on the case. There was only five of us cooking to make sure we could all socially distance as well.”
Meeting the celebs
John Torode and Gregg Wallace return to judge the MasterChef contestants once again having fronted the show since it began in 2005. While both were on set for everyone to see, Ross said the initial encounter with the celebrity chef and presenter was brief.
He added: “It was great getting to meet them. Everyone was great and there were no showbiz egos at all. I really didn’t know what to expect when I went down. The whole MasterChef team, including John and Gregg, were really lovely. We only got to meet the judges very briefly though.”
Cooking his signature dish
This year’s competition features a new round in which each cook must showcase their favourite ingredient.
Living in the town of Carnoustie, a short drive away from the east coast, Ross turned to showcasing Scottish seafood, more specifically lobster, for his signature dish – something he says he cooks a lot with at home.
Teasing about the dish he made though not revealing all the ingredients, Ross said: “My signature dish was a seafood dish. I cooked a dish comprising lobster and I accompanied it with chips. It was high end meets low end. Arbroath is five miles along the road from Carnoustie and I cook lobster quite regularly. It is an excellent larder for seafood to have on your doorstep. Cooking is my main hobby and I love to cook.”
Kicking off the series
The managing director of Smyth Composites, which employs 25 people, is looking forward to sitting down with his wife and watching the show, and is prepared to receive lots of calls from friends and family about his appearance.
“At the time of filming in October I thought all of this malarkey would be over by then, and we wanted to have a bit of a shin dig and have a bit of a party to celebrate it. But obviously that can’t happen so it will just be myself and my wife in front of the TV. I’m expecting my phone to be red hot during the show.
Five contestants from Scotland feature in this latest series. The other Scottish contestants are Katy Tan from Glasgow (episode four), Laura Michael from Carluke (episode two), plus two other men who have yet to be named but hail from Dunfermline (episode seven) and Gorebridge (episode 11).
Last year’s series was made up of 24 episodes and this year’s is expected to be the same.
