I won Come Dine With Me but it was terrible – there was a major red flag from show bosses as soon as I met them
A COME Dine With Me contestant has revealed that a meeting with the show’s bosses made him see a major red flag before filming even started.
Ricky Ashcroft hosted a group of guests at his dinner party nine years ago - but his experience left a seriously bitter taste.
Posting on , Ricky Ashcroft has been delighting fans of the show with his no-holds barred commentary of what things were like behind the scenes.
In a series of videos, the writer revealed how he was encouraged to apply for the show when his work discovered the Channel 4 programme would be filming in the area.
Wearing a hoodie, Ricky shared in one video about the audition process of Come Dine With Me and what he had to do.
He said: “I got a phone call to say that I had got through to the next round and that would be sending someone round to my house with a camera and they would give me an onscreen interview.
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“This interview they said they would watch me cut up some chillies, cut up like an onion or whatever and just like have a bit of a chat with me.”
Ricky said that at this point in the process he was feeling a bit excited about the show and starting to believe he might get picked to be a contestant.
Continuing his story, he said: “The first red flag I got was when they came round to my house with the cameras, and they were giving me an interview and I was replying like I would to a normal person – but they weren’t happy with that.
“They were telling me that I needed to reply to their questions with more enthusiasm and kind of like how a TV presenter would, you know? And that’s just not me.”
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He went on: “But the cameras were there and when the cameras are there you kinda feel like you have to play up to them.
“And the director that they sent or the producer that they sent was kinda getting a bit bummed out that I wasn’t so enthusiastic.
“And that’s one of the biggest regrets I have is kinda like falling victim to that need to act the way that they want you to act.”
Ricky finishes his story by reminding viewers that he was young at the time, and felt like he had to act that way in order to get on the show.
Despite winning the competition, Ricky's experience seemed to have been negative.
The former contestant shared his experience on the Channel 4 show in a TikTok video, describing is as "not good".
He began: "I was on Come Dine With Me nine years ago and I did not have a good experience."
Ricky revealed that on the second day of filming he "almost walked out".
In the video he showed his followers a screenshot of the episode he was in, where he was stood watching an "uncomfortable scene" play out.
"I was watching an uncomfortable scene play out of a middle aged woman pole dancing," he said.
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Ricky then shared a photo of his kitchen while filming and revealed that the Come Dine With Me crew "completely trashed" his house.
He then showed another photo of his living room, and a number of bottles of alcohol can be seen everywhere.
