A Judge On My Kitchen Rules

Most of Rachel Allen's television has been about teaching people to cook. In 2017 she tried a different role. She became a judge^[1].

In September 2017 she joined Channel 4's My Kitchen Rules as co-presenter and judge^[1]. Her partner on screen was Glynn Purnell, the Birmingham chef the papers called the Yummy Brummy^[2].

Forty Episodes

It was a big commitment. The series ran over 40 episodes in the autumn of 2017^[2]. Week after week, the two judges tasted the contestants' food and gave their verdicts^[2].

The pairing brought together two very different cooks: a Birmingham restaurant chef and a Cork cookery teacher. She spoke warmly about working with him in interviews that autumn^[2].

Near Misses And New Roles

It was not her first brush with a big baking show. The Shropshire Star noted that she had once been among the favourites to present Channel 4's Bake Off, before the station chose another team^[2]. My Kitchen Rules gave her a prime-time Channel 4 seat of her own.

Her site also lists her as a co-host of The Restaurant with Marco Pierre White, another show where she judged rather than taught^[3].

A Long Screen Career

By then she had hosted 14 television series, broadcast in more than 30 countries^[1]. From a pilot made in a Ballymaloe classroom to a judge's chair on Channel 4, it had been a long road^[1][3].

Her official site lists the long run of shows that came before, from Market Kitchen on the Good Food Channel to regular visits to BBC's Saturday Kitchen^[3].

The show also proved how far she had come since her first pilot in 2004. Channel 4 trusted her not only to cook on camera, but to judge the cooking of others in front of a national audience^[1][2].

Yet when asked what she loved most, her answer had not changed. Teaching is my favourite thing of all, she said^[2]. The cameras come and go. The classroom at Ballymaloe is where she always returns^[2][3].