Gregg's favourite five celebrities to have featured on Celebrity MasterChef:
1. Phil Vickery
I think Phil's the best winner we've ever had. I'm a huge rugby fan - and more specifically a huge London Wasps fan, so to have a former England captain and member of the Wasps squad on the show was a big coup for me, I loved it - and he's all-round just a great guy. Not bad at cooking either!
Credit: BBC
2. Matt Dawson
There's a bit of a rugby theme here but my fellow Strictly graduate Matt Dawson was another big all-time favourite Celebrity MasterChef contestant. He was on the winning rugby World Cup squad in 2003, and he played for Wasps so again, I was excited when I heard he'd signed up to do the show - and he didn't disappoint. As it turned out he's not only great at rugby, but an incredible cook too - and not bad at dancing either. Turns out Matt's got many strings to his bow!
3. Paul Young
When I was about 18/19, I used to go and watch Paul play in a band called The Q Tips before he hit the big time, so it was pretty surreal to have him on the show. I loved meeting him and I was really taken aback by his cooking skills - the man's a great cook. As it turns out he's a big lover of Spanish food too, just like myself, so it was always interesting to see what he would rustle up.
4. Midge Ure
Midge is just a legend full stop. Not because he was the frontman of Ultravox - who I loved - but he, alongside Bob Geldof, was of course responsible for the absolutely incredible Live Aid - and that in itself just makes him worthy of making my top five. He's not a great cook, but he's a great man, and an utter legend so it was great to have met him.
5. Tony Hadley
Another 80s legend. Tony is actually the only celeb we've let come on the show twice. He was on Celebrity MasterChef for two years consecutively - we were all such big fans of him that we let him come back and have another go. Interestingly though he actually did better the first time! Really nice guy though. Whilst he was on the show he very kindly did me a favour and sang 'Gold' down the phone to my girlfriend at the time - and who doesn't love a bit of 'Gold'? I'm a big fan of Tony, everyone on the show was.
Gregg's favourite five food trends of the moment:
1. Avocados
You can't move for seeing an avocado at the moment, they're literally going through the roof. The fact that they're now outselling oranges in the UK just shows you how much they've taken off. In part though, I think it's because of increased popularity of Mexican food, which has really blown up in the past few years. I'm always interested to see what avocado-themed creation people are going to come up with next - I think this week I've seen avocado burger buns and avocado ice cream, so wonder what next week will bring - avocado-infused gin perhaps?
2. Veg
I think the whole veganism movement has really taken off this year, and in part that's probably because they've got so much more choice now. I think Bruno Loubet has really led the way on that with what he's done at The Grain Store. He's opened the door for making veg the main event in a meal rather than the side act, and where he's gone people are following. Then of course you've got all the food innovation taking place with veg - courgetti, cauliflower rice etc. I love The Grain Store though, Bruno's got it absolutely right.
3. Food preservation
I think we're going to be seeing more and more preserved food - I think bottling, pickling, salting and drying are going to continue to take off. One benefit is obviously that it means we can enjoy foods all year round that would otherwise be limited to seasons - potted hare is becoming very popular as a result of the growing demand for game meat. We're definitely seeing a return to traditional methods of preparing food, and I'm all about the traditional - I call myself a food purist.
4. Asian food
I think the explosion of Asian food - from the high street to high end restaurants - goes hand in hand with the whole clean eating phenomenon. It's all freshly prepared, it's healthy and it's quick - and that's a big thing with food now, no one wants to wait, so things that are quick and convenient are being favoured more and more.
5. Michelin Star pub grub
We're seeing an influx in Michelin star chefs opening gastro pubs and opening up the Michelin Star food experiences to a wider market by making it more affordable, which is great. Two of my favourites are Flitch of Bacon in Essex, which Daniel Clifford from The Great British Menu opened recently. His restaurant Midsummer House has two Michelin Stars and was named the second best fine dining restaurant in the world, so it's great that more people can try his incredible food - because it is outstanding. Another one is Hinds Head Bray, which Heston Blumenthal opened. Now you don't have to go to The Fat Duck to taste his food - and everyone should taste his food, he's a very skilled chef.
Gregg's five things he's most excited about now:
1. Shot to Pot at The Game Fair
Well I've been busy preparing for the launch of my new pop up restaurant, Shot to Pot, which opens today for this weekend only. It's at The Game Fair in Warwickshire, which for anyone unfamiliar is kind of like a mini Glasto for country folk - there's everything from a Bear Gryll's Survival Camp and show jumping trials, to cookery lessons with Lesley Waters from Ready Steady Cook and JB Gill from JLS - he's a chicken farmer these days. There is also a cookery theatre, where people can watch live demonstrations of how to get the best from your game meat - and of course, my pop up restaurant, so I'm really excited about it for people to come down and see it, this weekend should be a fun one.
2. My holiday in Lazio
I've rented an amazing villa in Lazio in Italy for a month next summer, and I'm literally counting down the days - it's the first time I've ever taken a month-long holiday, so I cannot wait. It's a really beautiful place, I'd recommend it to anyone.
3. Eat Well For Less
I'm really enjoying this series of Eat Well For Less, it's so interesting to see how much money you can save a family with a few tweaks. We're saving the average family £90 a week, and that's a huge saving across the year. It's been really popular too - we've getting a great response from audiences.
4. My new breakfast bar
When you spend as long in the MasterChef tasting kitchen as I do, it makes relaxing in your own kitchen that little bit more special - so I've just splashed out on a new breakfast bar and I'm not going to lie - I'm very excited about it.
5. Time Commanders
Later this year I'll be hosting a brand new show called Time Commanders for BBC4. We're bringing it back after a 10 year hiatus and I think people are going to love it. The general jist is that we're going to have two teams in a studio, battling it out in historical battles, brought to life with graphics. I'm a bit of a military historian myself so it's right up my street - hopefully people are going to love it!
Gregg's pop up restaurant Shot to Pot opens today for one weekend only. To enquire about reservations or tickets to The Game Fair, visit www.thegamefair.org. Tickets are available online. Children under 8 get in for free, and those 8 - 16 are only £5.
Tagged in Gregg Wallace