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''Come Dine with Me'' is a British
reality series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
that has aired on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
since 10 January 2005 and is narrated by Dave Lamb.


Format

The original format features five amateur chefs who live in the same town or area, who each host a three-course dinner party for the other contestants at their own home over successive episodes. Each competitor then rates the host's food and hosting skills during the taxi journey home, with the highest-scoring chef winning £1,000 cash at the end of the five-episode cycle. The show often features guests with clashing personalities. Episodes produced for primetime broadcast feature four contestants over a single hour-long episode. Dave Lamb provides a voiceover, which sometimes includes sarcastic comments on the chefs' food and interior design.


Notable moments

A 2016 episode attracted particular attention, when contestant Peter Marsh made ungracious remarks upon losing to the winning contestant Jane. He said to her and the other contestants: "What a sad little life, Jane. Enjoy the money. I hope now you will spend it on getting some lessons in grace and decorum, because you have all the grace of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on." Another episode gained attention online, when a clip on video sharing site
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
of contestant Kev Riley fitting a balloon whisk into his mouth went viral. In an 'ask me anything' session on
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in 2022, Kev claimed that this was the result of a "spur of the moment" decision intended to make the producer laugh. This clip has had over 100m views on various threads across social media. This has resulted in the sale of merchandise, flags appearing at
Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...
, and Riley being a regular contributor on Cameo. From 2020, due to
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
, all five contestants cooked and ate in the same house; this is instead of having the contestants visiting each other's houses to dine. The location of the house would vary depending on which city the five episodes were taking place. Episodes shown from 2024 reverts to contestants hosting from their own homes.


Spin-offs


''Couples Come Dine with Me''

On 7 July 2014, the first episode of the spin-off series - ''Couples Come Dine with Me'', premiered on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
. The series uses a similar format to the original series but features three couples competing to win £1,000.


''Celebrity Come Dine with Me''

There have been occasional celebrity groups of chefs since the first episode of Series 2.


''Come Dine with Me: The Professionals''

On 12 January 2022,
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
commissioned ''Come Dine with Me: The Professionals'' where local restaurants went head to head in the contest. The series premiered on 27 June 2022 on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
.


International versions


English


Spanish


Other languages


Adaptations


Come Dine With Me: The Musical

A musical adaptation of the show is scheduled to open at the Turbine Theatre in London in September 2024 following a run at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
in July 2024.


Notes


References


External links

* * * * * * * {{Come Dine With Me 2000s British game shows 2010s British game shows 2020s British game shows 2000s British cooking television series 2010s British cooking television series 2020s British cooking television series 2005 British television series debuts Channel 4 game shows Cooking competitions in the United Kingdom British English-language television shows Come Dine With Me Hospitality industry in the United Kingdom Television series by ITV Studios