Young MasterChef judge Poppy O’Toole on ‘massive win’ over toxic boy’s club

The Poppy Cooks TikTok chef, 28, on serving up ants, fan-girling over Daisy May Cooper, MasterChef and how to deal with toxic workplaces.

What was your reaction when you were asked to co-host and judge Young MasterChef?

When I get a bit overwhelmed I shut off so I was a bit like [casual], ‘Yeah, OK, great.’ And then after a couple of weeks I was like, ‘Ohmigod this is a really big deal!’ Then it hit me full pelt in the face that this is MasterChef – that is a huge, iconic brand around the world.

You asked Gregg Wallace, John Torode, Marcus Wareing and Anna Haugh on your Insta if they had any advice. Did they?

Yes, we got to see a little bit of filming of The Professionals before we started ours so I asked Gregg what advice he had. He said, ‘Always have a solid opinion. If you like it you like it, if you don’t you don’t.’

That helped me because sometimes you go, ‘Well maybe it would be nice if…’ Knowing what you like and what you don’t helps. You want these contestants to get better.

You’ve said the food and drink world can be a boy’s club. Did that make getting this gig even more satisfying?

Absolutely. It’s a massive win. I think we’ve got space now in the food world for a more diverse environment. It is a bit like, ‘Yeah, we’re coming in, make some room.’

Having worked in the industry for ten years, is the atmosphere less toxic for younger chefs?

There is definitely movement happening because the young generation of chefs are not standing for this stuff anymore. We are losing chefs because of how it has been. I’ve experienced negativity. I can’t say 
I have had it as toxic as some other people have had.

Ever leave a job because you felt uncomfortable?

Yeah, that was sometimes to do with pay over hours. I was working 70 hours a week and getting paid for 35. That is a joke.

It was also because of actual physical things that happened and you don’t feel safe in that environment anymore.

Those are two examples from myself but some people go through proper mental health trauma.

You worked as a Michelin-trained chef. The pandemic happened, you were laid off, you left London for the family home in Birmingham where you had this idea for a social media video for a ‘good tomato sauce’…

I was in Birmingham for a few days and then it was like, what can we do? So I started doing recipes and one of the first ones was this tomato sauce.

I had a message come through from a key worker saying, ‘This was amazing after a 14-hour shift. Thank you so much. It was really good for me and my family.’ It was a bit like OK, well let’s carry on.

Is there any snobbery from people due to the TikTok tag?

There was in the first year until it got to a point where people were like, actually we can’t laugh at this, it’s quite impressive. It terrified me at first putting videos out.

I was told I wasn’t a real chef, that my recipes were rubbish. Fine, do whatever you do to make yourself feel better. When I secured the book deal, that solidified my confidence.

Didn’t you used to cook in a restaurant that had ants on the menu?

Yes, they were wood ants. They taste like really high-concentrated lemon juice, very, very sour. They are fun to put on a dish as a little bit of a stunt like, ‘Try an ant’. It’s that Instagram moment but they really complement rich creamy dishes.

We used to serve it with a cheese custard tart. Then if you get a bit of ant in there, you get this real zing of freshness. It works really well.

You were obsessed with food programmes as a kid. Which were your favourites?

I loved the proper old-school ones like Two Fat Ladies. Me and my nan used to watch that and cry with laughter and then get hungry.

Who were you most excited to meet when you appeared on Celebrity Weakest Link?

Romesh Ranganathan. We follow each other on TikTok. I messaged him when he first followed me and he didn’t message back. I was like, ‘Oh no!’ I was hoping to get that in when I spoke to him but we were so in it with the quiz that I couldn’t get a normal conversation in.

What non-foodie TV are you watching?

Am I Being Unreasonable? with Daisy May Cooper. It was brilliant. I watched it in one sitting.

Doesn’t she follow you on Instagram?

Oh yeah! So I messaged her and she replied. I was like, ‘Ohmigod I love you.’ I fan-girled saying how much I loved her and then I think I made it weird by just continuing to say how much I loved her, so she stopped talking to me after a bit.

So if a deranged fan-girl appears in series two…

Yeah, it came from me.

Young MasterChef is on BBC Three and iPlayer

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