Come Dine With Me Contestant Makes Some Sensational Claims About Appearing On Show

A former contestant of Channel 4's Come Dine With Me has shared some sensational claims about her time on the show.

Katy Spence took part in the cooking competition in 2014 as one of the episode's four contestants to cook dinner for the others in a bid to win the £1,000 prize.

Eight years on, and Spence has taken to TikTok to discuss her time on the show, responding to questions from intrigued viewers about what the show is like behind the scenes and making a number of interesting claims about what being a contestant really involves.

Spence admitted she was not the one to take home the cash prize, but claimed Come Dine With Me bosses "know who they want to win" even before the cooking takes place.

She said, "During my week, one of the people absolutely should have won, their food was the best. But, it's hugely edited, massively staged – and they know who they want to win right from the get go."

Spence also made allegations about the funding contestants receive to take part in the show, claiming, "You get £250 and that covers your food, your entertainment and any cutlery that you need." However, she claimed this was not enough to cover the cost of everything she needed to take part, adding, "Being that you take a gift to each contestant's house, it cost me five or six hundred pounds – that's not even including the fact that I couldn't work for the week because I was filming from about three or four o'clock every day..."

When it comes to the actual 'Dine' part of the show, Spence attempted to dispel any illusions of classic dinner parties as she described "sitting down for dinner for about six hours all the while you're being stared at by four or five people around you".

She added, "You barely even properly eat, let alone drink."

Spence's claims have been met with shock and surprise from TikTok users, with some saying they feel 'betrayed' at being told everything isn't as it seems with the show.

One person responded, "Ngl that’s really upset me. I thought come dine with me was a lot more real than that."

Come Dine With Me has become a staple of British television over the years since it first arrived on our screens in 2005, with the series having produced countless memes and viral clips that continue to be shared by fans years later.

LADbible has contacted Channel 4 for comment.

Featured Image Credit: Channel 4/@Katy-spence/TikTok

Topics: Channel 4, TikTok, TV and Film, Viral

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.