Entertainment
Monica Galetti recalls hilarious blunder from meeting with The Queen – and it involves a glass of wine-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro
Oh Monica!
It may have been embarrassing, but it makes for great entertainment for us! (Picture: Good Housekeeping UK/Chris Floyd)
Ever met Queen Elizabeth while she was holding a glass of wine? Nope? Well, Monica Galetti has.
The Samoan-New Zealand chef rose to prominence following her appearance as a judge on BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals.
However, Monica – who runs a restaurant, Mere, located on London’s Charlotte Street – decided to step back from the cooking show after 14 years, which wasn’t an easy decision to make.
The chef said she was ‘in tears’ over stepping down as a judge, but ultimately had to prioritise her business and her family life.
Speaking with Good Housekeeping after covering their September issue, she explained how ‘something had to give’ once she reached breaking point.
‘I freaked out at the thought of filming starting again because I didn’t have enough staff [at the restaurant, Mere], I was already going three days a week without seeing my daughter and I had a very ill nephew,’ she shared.
The TV star is reshuffling her priorities after stepping down from the BBC show (Picture: Good Housekeeping UK/Chris Floyd)
‘I felt like I needed to split into four people. I don’t have a poker face, either, so you would have seen on screen how worried and distracted I was.’
The former senior sous-chef at Le Gavroche in London went on to discuss her once-in-a-lifetime royal encounter at a reception in Buckingham Palace, where she brushed shoulders with Her Majesty.
‘It was possibly one of my most nervous moments ever,’ she said, proceeding to describe a moment of panic that we have to thank her for, because now we have this hilarious anecdote.
Monica was MasterChef judge for 14 years (Picture: BBC)
‘First, I met Charles and Camilla, then I was chosen to be part of a separate line-up to meet Her Majesty. I had a wine glass with me, and thought, “Oh no, I can’t possibly meet The Queen holding a glass of wine,” so I put it down. Then, she walked round the corner with a glass of wine in her hand and I thought, “Oh, dammit!”‘
Elsewhere in her interview, the 46-year-old reflected on her life’s ambitions, explaining that all she wants is to ‘stress less, enjoy life, and be happy’, as well as ‘stop postponing things’.
‘It was the first time in 10 years that I went away with my family during half-term in May – and it felt so good,’ she said.
The chef wants to learn to say no in a bid to make herself happier (Picture: Good Housekeeping UK/Chris Floyd)
‘I’ve learned that happiness isn’t about constantly saying yes to commitments. Fewer commitments can actually make you happier.’
Monica – who was one of the judges for the Platinum Pudding Competition in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee – later joked that she got ‘told off’ for chatting with Dame Mary Berry too much during filming.
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The two would be ‘lost in conversation’, so producers would have to snap them out of it and also warn them about slouching.
When she bumped into Dame Mary recently, the former Great British Bake Off judge sweetly remarked: ‘Oh, it’s my new best friend!’, and that’s what we want out of life tbh.
Read Monica’s full interview in the September 2022 issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale the July 27.
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