Suave lawyer destroys competition
Sheffield University law lecturer Dr Russell Buchan has secured victory on the couples’ edition of Channel 4 show Come Dine With Me.
The win was achieved despite Buchan and his American hubby Shane (pictured above left and right) opting to dress like matching vac-schemers.
The couple kicked things off with a starter of meatloaf and devilled eggs (a mixture of eggs, mayonnaise and mustard) before serving ‘engagement chicken’, a personally significant dish named after a similar recipe the couple shared prior to getting engaged.
The public international law specialist then let the other twosomes take a nosey round his house. During the snooping session — which is part of the show’s format — one couple discovered a book he had published in 2013 entitled ‘International Law and the Construction of the Liberal Peace’.
Leafing through the complicated text, a contestant can be heard proclaiming “not my cup of tea”.
Despite having to explain the premise of the book to his baffled dinner guests, Buchan seemed to relish his moment in the spotlight. Speaking to online student paper The Tab he said:
“Shane and I loved the whole experience of Come Dine With Me. All of it was a lot of fun and we would thoroughly recommend it to everyone — especially if you win.”
But the Sheffield law lecturer had some slightly catty words for the other contestants, who seemed to lack the sophistication found in typical legal academic circles:
“Their conception of ‘posh food’, considering we were involved in a food competition, was very different to ours …” he added. “One couple served dry chicken pesto with store bought pastry and the other even served bangers and mash.”
To seal victory, Buchan — who includes ‘cyber war’ as an area of research interest — expertly cooked a homemade apple pie with lashings of whipped cream. This secured him and Shane 27 points and that all important £1,000 prize fund.
This isn’t, of course, the first time law and culinary TV has combined. Last summer Queen of Pre-nups Ayesha Vardag and her new husband Stephen Bence graced the same show, with memorably cringeworthy results.