Come Dine With Me will mark its 20th year with a new series of dinner parties across the UK which promise to be as “warm and unpredictable as we have ever seen”.
Launched in January 2005, the popular Channel 4 show sees amateur chefs take turns hosting a three-course dinner party for other contestants, and the meal rated highest by the guests wins a cash prize.
There have been 2,426 episodes over the years including 250 couple episodes, 101 celebrity specials and 14 Christmas editions.
To mark the 20-year milestone, new parties will be held in Cambridge, Glasgow, Plymouth, Leeds, Bristol, Belfast, Cardiff and Birmingham.
We are a great and funny nation, and the new series is as warm and unpredictable as we have ever seen
Dave Lamb, who has narrated all the episodes, said: “Come Dine With Me became a cultural phenomenon 20 years ago and continues to perfectly sum up the people, culture and dinner habits of towns and cities right across the UK.
“If you had told me when I first stepped into the voiceover booth 20 years ago that I would still be doing this in 2025 I would have laughed at you, but the show continues to entertain and delight us all.
“We are a great and funny nation, and the new series is as warm and unpredictable as we have ever seen.”
Over the years, the show has produced some memorable moments including the classic scene when one contestant who was disappointed with his defeat said: “You won Jane, enjoy the money, I hope it makes you very happy.
“Dear lord, what a sad little life, Jane. You ruined my night, completely, so you could have the money.
“But I hope now you spend it on some lessons on grace and decorum because you have all the grace of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on.”
Other notable moments included a contestant putting a whisk in his mouth to taste his dessert, and another serving up a sausage trifle.
Unusual dishes also included a bacon roly-poly with cheese custard, Irn-Bru soup, squirrel and ale pie and chocolate-covered insects.
Famous faces who have appeared on the celebrity editions include Big Brother presenter AJ Odudu, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Courtney Act, Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder, model and presenter Ulrika Jonsson and Made In Chelsea star Jamie Laing.
The show has expanded across the world, with versions in more than 40 countries including Kazakhstan, Iran, Belgium and Argentina.
The 20th series of Come Dine With Me starts at 5.30pm on Monday January 27 on Channel 4.
