Oliver Townend and Lee Pearson on Ready Steady Cook
Badminton and Burghley-winning event rider Oliver Townend and Paralympic gold medallist Lee Pearson will be going head-to-head on television next month — on Ready Steady Cook.
The pair, who both confess that cooking isn’t their greatest talent, will fight it out in an episode due to air next month.
“I was asked if I wanted to take part and decided to go for it,” Oliver told H&H. “It was [filmed on] the Monday after Burghley though, so I’ll admit I wasn’t feeling my best.
“I’ve never cooked anything in my life — beans on toast is about my limit. We prepared about four dishes in 20 minutes, which was a challenge.
“It was loads of fun, but I don’t think I’ve been inspired to cook more in the future!”
Lee also admitted that he’s no whizz in the kitchen.
“It was great to compete against Oliver, but I was useless in the kitchen — everything that could go wrong, did,” said Lee.
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“The can opener broke and I then tried to crush garlic, but didn’t realise you have to take the outside layer off, so that was a bit of a disaster.
“Twenty minutes goes very quickly. I’m certainly not a natural — I’m more a ready-meal kind of guy!”
Meanwhile, European eventing champion Tina Cook is looking forward to appearing on BBC’s A Question of Sport.
“I’m in for filming in December,” Tina told H&H. “I’ve been on it before, so am really looking forward to doing it again, it’s a lot of fun.”
This article was first published in Horse & Hound (15 October, ’09)
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.