Entertainment
MasterChef 2021 winner Tom Rhodes to go on festival tour alongside Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Although it might seem an unusual pairing, MasterChef winner Tom Rhodes and pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor will soon be touring together.
They’ll be joining the star-studded Foodie Festival lineup, which was rapidly dubbed the ‘Gastro-Glastonbury’ after it began in 2004.
This is the biggest gourmet food, drink, and music event in the UK – and it’s back with this summer in 10 British regions.
Millions of people tuned in to watch Tom win the tense MasterChef final on Wednesday night and this will be the first time he’ll cook live in front of an audience since he last appeared on the hit BBC TV show.
‘I’m a huge fan of Foodies Festival, so I’m over the moon that it’s back this year. As well as all the amazing food, drinks and live music, I’ll be there and can’t wait to share my favourite recipes and quick kitchen tricks,’ he said in a statement.
Alex Webb, the winner of MasterChef: The Professionals in 2020, is also touring with the festival and will be inviting the best chefs in each region to create amazing dishes on stage with him.
Other famous faces cooking up a storm this summer include much-loved champions of Great British Bake Off Candice Brown (2016) and Peter Sawkins (2020), who made a huge impact with his gluten-free and dairy-free fancies.
Murder on the Dance Floor singer and Kitchen Disco legend Sophie will also go on tour with the festival as part of the musical offering, along with the likes of chart-toppers Scouting For Girls and Toploader.
The event will be the first time in a long time that the musicians attending will be able to perform in front of a live audience.
‘I’ve been doing my live-streamed kitchen discos since the first lockdown, but what a joy it will be to finally get out of my kitchen to appear at the biggest food festival of the year!’ Sophie said.
‘I’m really looking forward to performing live to an audience again, and sampling some of the lovely food on offer.’
For the third year running, the festival is supporting Musicians Against Homelessness (MAH) with tickets raising money for UK-wide homelessness charity Crisis.
‘The last year has been incredibly difficult for charities, we are so pleased to be back at Foodies with our music stage and brilliant artists, raising much-needed funds,’ MAH founder Emma Rule said.
Other celebrity chefs taking part at various locations include MasterChef 2021 finalists, Mike Tomkins, Alexina Anatole and Laura Michael.
Previous MasterChef champions Thomas Frake, Kenny Tutt and Irini Tzortzglou and Great British Bake Off favourites Laura Adlington and Dave Friday will also be in attendance.
Dates and venues
Tatton Park, Cheshire: 9th – 11th July
Devils Island, Winchester: 16th – 18th July
Parker’s Piece, Cambridge: 23rd – 25th July
Inverleith Park, Edinburgh: 6th – 8th August
Syon Park, London: 20th – 22nd August
South Parks, Oxford: 28th – 30th August
Durdham Downs, Bristol: 10th – 12th September
King’s Park, Bournemouth: 17th – 19th September
Preston Park, Brighton: 24th – 26th September
Hylands Park, Chelmsford: 1st – 3rd October
Tickets are on sale now at www.foodiesfestival.com.
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