Denise van Outen fronted today's episode of Steph's Packed Lunch, but was left red-faced after one of the show's guests made a saucy remark in the kitchen.
Denise wore a 70s Pucci inspired ensemble, providing a pop of colour to the drab weather that is currently engulfing large parts of the UK. The show's guests were presenter Gemma Atkinson, performer Luke Kempner, House of Lords Peer Sayeeda Warsi, Great British Bake Off contestant Marc Elliott and journalist Rick Edwards. Things took a racy turn when star of cult series Red Dwarf Daniel John-Jules appeared in the kitchen to cook Sure Ting Chicken.
But Denise was stunned into silence as John-Jules likened cooking to foreplay. He said: “Isn’t cooking a bit like foreplay? I mean you invite some round for dinner and it’s part of the whole evening isn’t it?”
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The bubbly presenter was stunned into silence by Daniel’s racy comment. A quick-thinking Denise managed to collect herself and said: “So go on then, seduce me with your tastebuds.”
Other topics discussed on the show included dog massages, last night’s lunar eclipse and Eurovision. A gleeful Denise said: “We can’t go on without talking about Eurovision.
"I’m so happy. The UK’s entry Sam Ryder who was on Packed Lunch just last week came second!
"Finally we have a result to be proud of! The best result since 1998!”
As the conversation changed to mental health, Denise referenced an article in The Times about men and emotions. She said: “There’s a column in today’s Times talking about how more men have turned into touchy-feely criers and bottom-lip wobblers.
"There’s always been a stereotype that men don't open up. Should we be changing that now?”
Luke Kempner revealed: “I cry at everything. I cry at John Lewis adverts, I cried on my wedding day.”
Denise said: “I think men are more open now to showing emotion. My dad never really showed emotion.
"It was just the way he was raised. They just don’t show the emotion, they see it as a weakness.”
Speaking about partner Gorka Márquez, Gemma Atkinson said: “Gorka’s the same as Luke, he cries at everything. He calls me the ice-queen. I’ve always put it down to that he’s Spanish, he’s very passionate.
"He wants to hold my hand every time we’re walking anywhere, he wants to spoon me when we’re sleeping. I want to star-fish... get off!
"He tells me: 'Nothing affects you. You don’t get upset.'"
Fans of the show took to Twitter to make their opinions about the show heard. Elizabeth Scott wrote: “Yah! Love Denise hosting. I will watch on plus one as usual. Looks like a great line-up. Some of my fav regulars.”
Some fans were quick to respond to Daniel’s rushed cooking segment. @ScheissShowUK wrote: “Feeling @DannyJohnJules's pain - asked to come on and cook then hit with a barrage of questions to put him off his stride, then bollocked by Denise for losing time!"
Emma Salmons wrote: “Would have liked to hear your interesting tales really, whilst having my lunch, not just get really stressed and high blood pressure while you get told off for answering some of the many questions and taking longer than 2 minutes to create a dish whilst being interviewed!"
Responding to Daniel’s Sure Ting Chicken, Sue Pot wrote: “Very entertaining, wish I could have heard more stories. Hope the actual recipe is somewhere?”
The guests appearing on this week's Steph’s Packed Lunch are: political presenter Andrew Neil, comedy duo Dick and Dom, presenters Ore Oduba, Nicki Chapman and Paddy McGuinness
