Jay Blades has admitted his surprise at being asked to help Mary Berry in her Christmas show – because he has no cooking skills whatsoever.
The Repair Shop star, 50, said despite Mary’s guidance, the experience has not made him want to get stuck into kitchen duties.
The furniture restorer was tested six times for Covid while making the festive special to ensure he did not give the virus to Mary, who is 85.
His task was to help kitchen novice Claire, a bra-fitter from Newcastle, to make a pavlova to impress her husband.
But admitting he didn’t know where to start, Jay decided to concentrate on mixing cocktails in order to “settle the nerves”.
“I can’t cook to save my life,” he laughed.
“I don’t know why they picked me. I think it was to do with Mary. She is a fan of The Repair Shop and I’ve met her and she said, ‘I want you to be one of my little elves to help people.’”
In the show, Jay, comic Tom Allen, and presenter Angela Scanlon help three novice cooks prepare a Christmas surprise.
Jay – on pudding duty – said their limoncello pavlova did not go particularly well. “It goes the way you’d expect two novices to be cooking something as extravagant as a pavlova.”
He said alcohol helped them to manage the ordeal.
“Mary set me a task of making a cocktail and we had a couple of drinks.”
Despite Mary’s aim to inspire people to try to cook, Jay said: “My family know my role, really, is music and sitting down at the table.”
Mary Berry Saves Christmas, December 23, 6.30pm, BBC1.
