Plymouth 'characters' set to star on Channel 4 show Come Dine With Me

-Credit:William Telford
-Credit:William Telford


Five Plymouth people will be cooking up a storm when the long-running TV hit Come Dine With Me airs in February. Slain McGough Davey, Lea Dobson, Jazza Fandango, Katie Coates and Stephen Connolly will appear on the Channel 4 show when it is broadcast each evening from 5.30pm to 6pm, from February 10 to 14, as part of the programme’s 20th anniversary.

The winner can’t be revealed before the show is screened but plans are being made for watch parties to be held in the city. Slain, a spoken word performer and director of arts organisation WonderZoo, said a watch party will be held at The Plot, in Union Street, every night during the show’s five-day run.

Anyone is invited to attend the event with tea and coffee available, and people are invited to bring food and drink. Meanwhile, it is understood one of the other contestants is organising a party to watch the episode she appears in at the Barbican’s The Three Crowns pub.

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The show was filmed in Plymouth in May 2023, but is only being broadcast now as part of the series’ 20th anniversary. It has visited before with Plymouth cooks chosen in 2008 and 2011, and the Couples Come Dine With Me spin-off featuring people from Britain’s Ocean City in 2015 and 2020.

The programme, in which each contestant takes turns to host the others for a dinner party, visits homes in Southway, Peverell, Mutley and Stonehouse - where Slain lives. Strongly proud of Stonehouse, he told Plymouth Live that when the TV crew arrived they were met with a “volley of abuse” from local youngsters.

“I thought it was funny. I said ‘this is Stonehouse’, this is what it’s like,” Slain said. “They were saying it was a rough neighbourhood, but I told them it is actually alright.”

Plymouth people appearing on Come Dine With Me, February 2025. L-R: Jazza Fandango, Slain McGough Davey, Stephen Connolly, Lea Dobbs, Katie Coates -Credit:Submitted
Plymouth people appearing on Come Dine With Me, February 2025. L-R: Jazza Fandango, Slain McGough Davey, Stephen Connolly, Lea Dobbs, Katie Coates -Credit:Submitted

Jazza describes herself on social media as a “mother, wife, teacher, director, performer, candlestick maker”. Katie is a leading light in the pole dance and fitness industry and president of the International Pole Sports Federation.

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Stephen is a musician who plays in Irish folk band Dr Thud’s Remedy, Lea described herself as a support worker and fitness fanatic when she appeared on BBC Radio Devon recently.

Slain, aged 50, said all the contestants had got on well and become firm friends. He said: “Everyone has a creative background. We all got on and are all friends now. We’re going to meet up again.

“For the 20th anniversary they wanted something special - that’s why they chose Plymouth and its characters. They chose me, a bohemian artist, someone that gives it something a bit different.”

Ms Lydon, a doll belonging to Plymouth arts organisation director Slain McGough Davey, both appearing on Come Dine With Me -Credit:Submitted
Ms Lydon, a doll belonging to Plymouth arts organisation director Slain McGough Davey, both appearing on Come Dine With Me -Credit:Submitted

Slain said friends saw an advert looking for participants and urged him to apply and send Channel 4 a video of himself talking to “Ms Lydon”, a doll puppet character he had created. He said: “I put myself forward for a laugh and didn’t think I’d actually get on. I sent the video of my home and of me reading a piece of spoken word work and I used a doll called Ms Lydon, which sits in an office in The Plot.

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“I created a back story that she was related to John Lydon, from the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd, and that she had invented punk and the shop Sex in London. They thought it was hilarious and said they had to have me on.”

Out of the five contestants there was one vegan, one pescatarian and a vegetarian - Slain. It meant that contestants had to produce at least three meals with no meat or dairy products to ensure the dietary requirements were catered for.

“I did a vegan roast,” said Slain. “I’ve never done much cooking before. Some of the dinner actually got a bit burned but after the film crew left my close friend Chi, who lives in the flat above, came down and helped me recook some of it before they came back again.”

Slain said the dinner party he hosted featured Plymouth comic Suzy Bennett as his special guest, and “Ms Lydon wearing an African outfit”. He said: “Suzy did a special performance which the guests loved - it went down a storm.”

Slain has no idea what to expect when the show is finally aired and said: “We’ve had to keep it a secret. I can’t say who wins or even what the scores were. I haven’t even seen the full edit, so it will be interesting.”

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