Fans of the BBC hit show Celebrity MasterChef should prepare themselves for an extra surprise on Thursday, 16th July, as the show will feature one of the West Midlands’ most popular attractions, Blists Hill Victorian Town in Shropshire. During the show the semi-finalists leave their familiar kitchens behind in the studios and travel back in time to 1900 to create a Victorian lunch for 70 of the Town’s volunteers and staff.
The programme was filmed earlier in the year at Blists Hill Victorian Town, one of the ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums, where life at the turn of the last century is demonstrated by the costumed clad townsfolk. In order to welcome the filming, two special marquees were constructed on the Town’s Green and fitted out with kitchen equipment. To get the semi-finalists into the spirit of the day, they arrived in style on a horse and cart and explored the historic streets, cottages and shops.
Paul Gossage, Director of Marketing & PR explains: “It’s not every day that I receive a phone call asking if I want eight celebrities to cook lunch for our volunteers, and I quickly realised that this was a wonderful opportunity for the Museum. A few weeks later we were given the good news that the production company wanted to film here, and the actual day of the filming was great fun with a wonderful atmosphere around the town.”
The eight celebrities hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s champion Sophie Thompson, are: actor Scott Maslen; actor and presenter Sheree Murphy; soul singer and presenter Mica Paris; Pussycat Doll and television personality Kimberly Wyatt; singer (The Wanted) Tom Parker; singer songwriter Chesney Hawkes; TV presenter (and one half of the presenter duo ‘Sam and Mark’)Sam Nixon and TV presenter, personality and singer Rylan Clark.
Blists Hill Victorian Town has often been used as a film location, for a variety of programmes including Dr Who, The Antiques Road Show, The Victorian Pharmacy and even a Christmas music video. Appearances on shows that are watched by millions of viewers are an excellent way to raise the Museum’s profile and attract more visitors.
Paul Gossage concludes: “The 70 volunteers who were treated to the specially prepared lunch thoroughly enjoyed their meal and seeing behind the scenes of MasterChef. Fans will have to watch the show to find out what was on the menu and which dishes proved to be the most popular.”
This episode of MasterChef is on BBC One on Thursday, 16th July at 9pm.
Open 10am to 5pm Blists Hill is one of the ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums. For further information, contact the Ironbridge Tourist Information Centre on Tel: 01952 433 424 or visitwww.ironbridge.org.uk. The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).
