We caught up with the queen of clean to talk about her new show on Channel 4, Come Dine With Me, the pleasures of cooking for her family and friends, her favourite charity and, of course, how she keeps her kitchen so spotlessly clean...
Tell us about Come Dine With Me
Five of us - me, Anneka Rice, Roland Riveron, Linda Robson and critic Toby Young - got together every night for a week, taking it in turns to host a dinner party for each other. At the end of each evening we'd award marks to the host until, by the end of the week, we had a winner who could then donate the prize money to their favourite charity. When I was asked to do it, I jumped at the chance, because cooking is what I enjoy most. But it was really punishing and so tiring to go to a dinner party every night!
You were the last to be the host - were you nervous when it came to your turn?
Well, I had a dummy run the day before. The trouble is, when I'm cooking for friends, I never buy anything pre-prepared; everything, from the bread to the ice cream has to be made from scratch, so I made it really difficult for myself! I also discovered how competitive I am - much more so than I thought.
While you were cooking, did you realise your guests had a poke around your house for dirt?
Did they?! Well, they'd find plenty of dust - cleaning's not a religion for me, and I've got kids, so I have to strike a balance between a happy home and a healthy one.
Your kitchen is stunning - would you say it is the heart of your home?
When we bought our house nine years ago, it was in a real state. My husband is an architect, so we wanted a project to get stuck in to. We designed the kitchen together and it's my favourite place in the world, the real hub of the home. We always eat in there, and I even work in there. I also cook a lot - every day that I can. I love it. Tonight I'm doing roast duck and, as I've got a long day tomorrow, I'll cook something for tomorrow night, too. It's part of my controlling side!
Do you do your own cleaning?
After I'd had kids and went back to work full time, I had a cleaner for a while. Now, we've got a male au pair, who does what I call the 'boring, routine cleaning' that I don't really want to do. I like to tackle the meatier jobs - I get a real thrill out of removing limescale and brightening up the grout between tiles.
Any hot tips?
To remove limescale from porcelain or enamel, I use a pumice stone, believe it or not. I dampen it, then just scrub the limescale off. It works a treat. As for grout, I dip a toothbrush in a solution of half water, half bleach and give it a good scrub, then a rinse. Easy.
As a nation, do you think we've become obsessed with being too clean?
I think if you live on your own, it's fine to be obsessed with cleaning, but if you're living with other people, particularly children, you need to be able to relax and sit down without worrying about making a mess. On the other hand, I actually think we're pretty lax about cleaning and ventilating our homes. There's 70 per cent of women that go out to work now and, while I'm not saying they should be the ones responsible for the cleaning, it does mean that no one is doing the dusting, for instance. People breathe in this dust, and since we all live in overheated homes with the windows closed, it's no wonder so many of us suffer from asthma. A lot of doctors treat the symptoms without looking at the causes - one of which has to be the filth people are living in.
Tell us about your charity...
It's called Ukuthasa (www.ukuthasa.org), and it supports people in townships in South Africa, helping them with healthcare, education and housing. Whenever I can, such as with this interview, I donate my fee to it.
Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp give us their top ten tips on beating the house price slump
Restoring a property can be tricky so Kevin McCloud gives you his tips and advice
4Homes picks the top ten weirdest and most bizarre Grand Designs houses
Your Comments
Post your comment
Please note: In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in to Channel 4:
Sign In Here or Register Here
Comments closed
Comments are closed at the present time
Comments
Thank you for your comment!
Your message will be reviewed and the best ones will be published below.
If you intended to make an official comment to Channel 4 please contact us.
Comments