Entertainment
Adam Pearson praises Celebrity MasterChef for not ‘pigeonholing’ disabled talent: ‘It has nothing to do with disability’-Charlotte Manning-Entertainment – Metro
He’ll appear tonight.
Adam Pearson appears in the final set of heats (Picture: Channel 4)
Celebrity MasterChef fans will see actor and disability advocate Adam Pearson take to the famous BBC kitchen this week, who has told Metro.co.uk how much he ‘relished’ the opportunity to take on the challenge.
Adam is one of five famous faces set to take part in the final heats of the series as the competition continues to hot up.
He’ll be putting his cooking skills to the test alongside Coronation Street’s Ryan Thomas, Drag Race UK’s Kitty Scott-Claus, Strictly professional Katya Jones and TV star Lisa Snowdon.
Ahead of his first appearance tonight, the contestant, 37, who was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type I after hitting his head at age five, shared how he was keen to sign up to the show due to it not ‘pigeonholing’ disabled talent.
Neurofibromatosis type I is a genetic condition which can causes growth on nerve tissue, meaning Adam’s face is covered in non-cancerous tumours.
He told Metro.co.uk how much he loved being part of Celebrity MasterChef, sharing: ‘It’s that thing of upskilling. Any situation I can put myself in where I can meet new people and learn a new skill is an opportunity that I always relish.’
(L-R) Katya Jones, Ryan Thomas, Kitty Scott-Claus, Adam Pearson and Lisa Snowden (Picture: BBC)
Adam went on to note how the fact the series had ’nothing to do with disability’ was something else that attracted him to the programme.
He continued: ‘Often with minority talent, and particularly disabled talent, they get pigeonholed into only doing massive air quotes here, disability things.
‘I’ve got no idea what disability things are, so if someone could let me know and I could start doing them, that would be great! But no, it was something that existed outside of that realm, and it seemed like a real opportunity to sort of step out of that bubble.
‘I think diversity works at its best when you see disabled people alongside non-disabled people doing the same thing and interacting on the same playing field.’
TV presenter Amir Latif was highly praised in 2020 for becoming the first blind contestant to serve food to John Torode and Gregg Wallace on the UK series.
Elsewhere in the competition, it’s been confirmed Dame Mary Berry will be making an appearance during next Thursday’s (September 8) edition of the BBC cooking competition.
Dame Mary said: ‘I can’t wait to see these talented MasterChef semi-finalists bring my dishes to life and hopefully they are recipes they would enjoy making at home too.’
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The contestants will be tasked with recreating one of Dame Mary’s ‘favourite and delicious signature classic recipes’ during what promises to be a tense episode.
But will Adam be one of this week’s contestants who will join the existing semi-finalists in being judged by the queen of baking herself?
Celebrity MasterChef continues tonight at 9pm on BBC One.
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