Scots singing sensation Marti Pellow has been left flabbergasted after getting stitched up by Jamie Oliver on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show.
The Wet, Wet, Wet crooner, who hails from Clydebank, thought he was in for a night of fine dining at the top chef’s restaurant on Saturday night.
Instead, he became the first victim of Michael McIntyre’s new BBC series which goes in for pranking celebs. On the show, McIntyre teamed up with Oliver to prepare an amuse bouche and mocktail for the Angel Eyes chanter.
The ingredients, however, were far from restaurant standard. Snacks were picked from the studio audience including monster munch, skips, Oreos, Cathedral City cheese and even a can of Irn Bru for Oliver to create a stomach-churning concoction for Marti to be presented with.
Panning to the make-shift restaurant, which was actually attached to the studio, a waitress, who was in fact an actress in disguise, welcomed Marti, who was dressed very patriotically in a kilt, and his friend to the eatery.
McIntyre was feeding lines to the ‘waitress’ through an earpiece to get the musician settled, while Oliver whipped up an off-putting plate of “warm and sweaty” cheese paired with a “pesto type paste” of Skips and olive oil.
The mocktail consisted of Irn Bru, Oreo cookie, olive oil, and drinks the audience had brought with them.
After the meal was prepared, Oliver went through to the restaurant to greet Marti in person and hand over the “retro crisp board”.
Incredibly, Marti reacted graciously, immediately identifying the hula hoops and monster munch before quipping “he’s a man after my own heart”.
He was a bit more thrown when sampling the mocktail, asking his friend confusedly, “what the hell is it?” before deciding “it’s old school, anyway”.
The ‘waitress’ was then instructed to tell Marti about the restaurant specials, which Marti would need to pay for since Jamie was in the house. This involved a £50 napkin tuck and a spoon feed.
Marti immediately burst out laughing, thinking it was a joke, but he was soon proved wrong when Jamie appeared and proceeded to spoon feed two male diners nearby in a choo choo train motion.
Marti looked on utterly perplexed, but couldn’t sit with the scene for too long, as Jamie then swooped over to ask the 59-year-old music stalwart if he could show him his dessert fridge.
Obliging, Marti was led to a fridge where Jamie asked him to try a piece of chocolate cake. He then made excuses to leave for a second, assuring Marti he’d be back in a minute. As soon as the door slammed, Marti looked worried.
“I’m locked in a fridge,” Marti murmured to himself. “This is a bit surreal. He’s shut the door.”
Before Marti has time to collect his thoughts, the wall drops beside him and he finds himself standing on the studio stage. The audience erupts with laughter and cheers before the intro to ‘Love Is All Around’ starts playing.
A true pro, despite being in disbelief, Marti takes the mic and launches into his most famous hit, accompanied by a full band.
“In the circumstances, you sang that insanely well!” Michael laughs after the performance.
“I started panicking,” Marti replies, “I was locked in a fridge! That whole experience was surreal.”
Pointing out his kilt, Marti jokes, “yeah, I was worried about this floor camera here! I’d have worn if I’d have known!”
On the disgusting mocktail, Marti comically added: “I’ve drank worse, to be fair”.
Pellow is currently marking the 30th anniversary of ‘Love Is All Around’. He will embark on a UK and Ireland tour this year including dates at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro and Edinburgh Castle.
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