TV & Showbiz

A Come Dine With Me spin-off series is looking for restaurants and chefs in Manchester

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 20th January 2022

A new spin-off series of Come Dine With Me is on the hunt for chefs and restaurateurs in Greater Manchester.

Come Dine With Me: The Professionals is a new twist on the classic daytime reality show.

It will see hospitality professionals, rather than amateur home cooks, battle it out to be crowned the best independent restaurant in their city.

Each self-contained episode will feature three local restaurants competing for a cash prize to be shared amongst the staff.

Due to air later this year, the programme will be formatted in a similar way to Four In A Bed, with two people from each restaurant representing the whole business.

ADVERTISEMENT
The hit show is on the hunt for restaurants. Credit: Channel 4

The competitors will dine in each other’s restaurants during a normal service and mark their experience out of 20.

Come Dine With Me: The Professionals will still be narrated by the iconic voice of Dave Lamb.

ADVERTISEMENT

Simone Haywood from MultiStory Media, which produces the show, said: “Come Dine With Me: The Professionals pays homage to one of the nation’s most-loved industries.

“We’re looking forward to heading across the country to meet some of the UK’s best restaurateurs and chefs in this new twist on our classic format.”

Come Dine With Me. Credit: Multi Story Media

MultiStory Media’s CEO Tim Carter said: “For 15 glorious years, we’ve been celebrating the culinary creations and epic fails that pour forth from the Nation’s home kitchens.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Now, as they recover from the battering of the last couple of years, Come Dine With Me cheers on Britain’s restaurants with its customary love note to gastronomic endeavour.”

Channel 4’s Jo Street added: “Come Dine With Me continues to be one of Channel 4’s best loved programmes with many memorable dinners served all over the UK in over 2,000 episodes.

Read more: Top 5 hilarious moments that actually happened on Come Dine With Me

“CDWM: The Professionals promises to really raise the stakes and we’re delighted to dish up this new extension on Channel 4 in 2022 to complement existing favourites Come Dine With Me and Couples Come Dine With Me.”

If you own or work in a Greater Manchester restaurant that would like to take part in Come Dine With Me: The Professionals, email [email protected].

Featured image: Channel 4

TV & Showbiz

Beloved Manc butty shop Bada Bing set for a sensational return to the city centre

Danny Jones Danny Jones Bada Bing returns to Manchester new Northern Quarter shop

Sandwich lovers rejoice because one of the finest butty shops to ever grace Manchester is returning: that’s right, Bada Bing is bada-back!

The Sopranos-inspired deli and sandwich shop that took its name from one of the central locations featured in the iconic US drama (yes, the strip club), was a huge success when it first opened in Manchester a few short years ago, so it was a huge blow when it closed in February 2022.

Starting out by serving sandwiches out of a window at The B Lounge pub on Paton Street near Piccadilly, before moving to a small kitchen on Radium Street and eventually setting up their stall inside Ancoats General Store, they would regularly have lines around the block every lunchtime.

These Italian-American sarnies were so popular you’d often struggle to get your claws on one – and believe us, they really are a two-handed task – as they’d sell out on what felt like most days. But now, whether you were a regular or someone who missed out, there is hope once again:

Announcing their sensational return to a new site over in the Northern Quarter, which will now mark the fourth premises they’ve popped up at, Bada Bing is back with a bang and, as you can, they dropped the news with one of the best reveal videos we’ve ever seen.

If you know, you know…

Set to take over 125 Oldham Street, owners Sam Gormally and Meg Lingenfelter haven’t yet graced us with an opening date but the new unit should hopefully be open sooner rather than later.

The duo, who previously worked at fellow NQ favourite Another Heart to Feed, came up with the concept during lockdown and it didn’t take long for the idea to take off, nor for them to earn their spot amongst the very best sandwich places in Manchester.

Seriously, they were insane:

@the.manc You need to try the #sandwiches at Bada Bing sandwich #deli in #Manchester 🥪🇮🇹 #learnontik #foryou #foryoupage ♬ Woke Up This Morning – Alabama 3

Read more:

Seriously, these things were so big and unwieldy (in the best way possible) that they even used to come with eating instructions: both hands and the trademark Tony Soprano hunch recommended, though the slightly stained wife-beater, boxer shorts and open dressing gown look is optional.

From slices of provolone cheese, all the thinly sliced Italian meats you could think of and the closest thing to actual ‘gabagool‘ as you’ll find in Greater Manchester, the menu was fitting of being served up to the iconic characters that once sat outside Satriale’s and a big approving grin from the man himself.

Simply put, we cannot wait and we will certainly keep you posted when we find out exactly when Bada Bing confirms their official reopening date.

bada bing manchester reopening
Credit: The Manc Group

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Eats

TV & Showbiz

Will Mellor’s new BBC documentary about real-life Post Office scandal victims airs tonight

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

A new BBC documentary about real-life victims from the Post Office scandal fronted by Will Mellor is hitting TV screens tonight.

As the country finally starts to wake up to the full scale of the Post Office scandal – which involved the British postal service pursuing thousands of innocent subpostmasters for apparent financial shortfalls caused by faults in an accounting software system between 1999 and 2015 – actor Will Mellor is on a mission to find out what happened to the real-life sub-postmasters in this new BBC documentary.

The Stockport-born actor famously played the part of Lee Castleton in the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, and says he feels a “real affinity” will the families he spoke to for the programme.

For the new documentary and accompanying five-part BBC Sounds podcast series – which is titled Surviving the Post Office – Will actually speaks to Mr Castleton himself, as well as four other affected people and their families whose lives have been “torn apart”.

Will Mellor has fronted a new BBC documentary about real-life Post Office scandal victims / Credit: ITV

Surviving the Post Office ventures to all four corners of England, including East Yorkshire, County Durham, Lincolnshire, West Sussex, and Cornwall, as Will discovers that many of the sub-postmasters want to “take back control of their lives”.

According to the BBC, for some facing the past, that proves to be a “troubling experience”, while for others, it ends up being a “liberating” step forwards.

As well as exploring the financial losses for many, including the people featured in the documentary and podcast series, Will also gets to find out how they are coping with their emotions, trying to move on from the whole ordeal, and how the victims are finding support in unexpected ways.

“I feel a real affinity with these families, so it was a privilege to hear their stories for this documentary and podcast,” Will said ahead of the documentary airing on BBC One.

“What shocked me the most after meeting so many sub-postmasters is just how far the impact and trauma has spread – the effect it’s had on people’s health, their children, and their whole communities has been massive.”

Read more:

Surviving The Post Office is airing on BBC One tonight (Monday 22 July) at 8.30pm, and will be available to watch any time on BBC iPlayer.

Featured Image – BBC

More TV & Showbiz

News

BBC to introduce Strictly Come Dancing rehearsal chaperones following ex-contestant complaints

WWE Live tickets Co-op Arena Manchester

Sport

Tickets for WWE Live in Manchester finally go on sale this Friday

Art & Culture

Coronation Street reveals lineup of famous faces you could meet on ‘Stars Tours’ this summer

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches