part in competitions – especially GBM - may be the exposure. Number two, you put yourself in a totally different environment, it puts you under a different type of pressure, it makes you stronger.
You just feel all round like you’ve progressed a wee bit, it gives you more of an understanding of the industry you work in. It helps you later on in your career.
It keeps things fresh, keeps the industry interesting, keeps people interested in it.
I think other competitions make hospitality and cheffing seem very glamorous sometimes. I think GBM doesn’t show the drama, you get to see what goes wrong, you get to see the problems; it’s not all about the drama and glory, you understand how tough it is.
I think GBM is a very important competition and I think that’s why it gets so much respect; because yeah it’s TV and yeah they edit it a wee bit and of course they want a bit of drama but at the end of the day it’s as real as it’s going to get on TV.
I don’t have any negativity towards competitions and especially towards GBM; the guys working behind the scenes were fantastic and the team were fantastic.
Whatever they put on the TV is down to my own doing because I was there – it’s not like they were sneakily filming me or something – I was there, I said what I said, I did what I did so at the end of the day it’s my responsibility.
Image: Oliver Peyton, guest judge Loyle Carner, Andi Oliver, Matthew Fort
Would you do it again?
Well… I don’t know. I know I’m saying it’s all good and no negativity towards it and I know people go back and do it three times and you get that chance and that’s fair enough but for me, it’s expensive, and not only, if I went back I’d have a point to prove.
I don’t know. I’ve a lot going on outside of GBM; there’s no doubt about it, it becomes your life.
It’s a lot of work and you need to be 100% dedicated to it if you’re going to succeed – you don’t want to go on it and embarrass yourself. I would give it serious consideration but I wouldn’t say yes and I wouldn’t say no because you need to make sure that if you’re going to do it you shouldn’t take the decision lightly because there’s a lot to consider.
