Saturday Kitchen descended into chaos minutes before serving up a tasty dish after comedian James Acaster found out he wouldn’t be served up his version of food heaven. During this weekend’s instalment, host Matt Tebbutt welcomed the stand-up comic and fellow funnyman Ed Gamble onto the show to promote the new series of their podcast, Off the Menu.
The long-running BBC show has a tradition of inviting viewers to vote on whether their guests will delve into their version of food heaven or food hell. But this time, the host put a spin on the series-long tradition and instead pitted the pair’s heavenly dishes against each other. Ed’s heavenly dish was tapas three different ways, or James’ Panatone Tirimasu.
But after counting the votes at the end of the episode, a staggering 54% of viewers decided to vote for Ed’s dish, which left his 40-year-old co-star seething with rage. As Ed cheered at the news, James screamed directly into the camera before his unexpected outburst on set.
After learning the news, the comic upended the festive wreath that sat in the middle of the table, delicately decorated with individually wrapped gifts, punched the life-size stuffed polar bear and shook the Christmas tree in the corner of the room, sending several baubles flying.
After his outburst, Matt attempted to laugh off the outburst, chuckling: “That’s alright, it takes the heat off me” before he moved on with the show as his guests struggled to stop laughing.
Attempting to regain control of the show, Matt shared the recipe for the tapas while James berrated him from the sidelines. He grumbled: “Oh shut up, Matt, no one cares!” and “Stop talking. Burn in hell, Matt.”
Eventually, Matt tried to reason with the comic by offering him some chocolate in order to stop his complaints from off-camera. When that didn’t work, the host caved and promised him that if he “behaved for the next three minutes” he could have some Tirimasu, which was pre-made by the team off-camera.
It didn’t take long before viewers flooded to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their surprise online. One user penned: “Why have I just turned on my TV to see James Acaster destroy half the set of Saturday Kitchen?”
Another agreed: “Hoping James offers to clear up the mess he made.” A third fumed: “Send James Acaster to the naughty step so the rest of us can enjoy Saturday Kitchen. What a spoilt brat.”
