BBQ Champ, ITV, Episode 1 review: ‘Might as well be called the Great British BBQ-Off’

ITV’s cooking show thrives on Adam Richman’s winning charisma
BBQ Champs: Mark Blatchford, Myleene Klass and Adam Richman (Picture: ITV)
ITV
Ben Travis31 July 2015

★★★★☆

ITV are in luck – with a scorching August weekend reportedly on the way, the thought of cracking out the barbecue is going to be at the forefront of the nation’s mind.

What better warm-up for barbecue season than the arrival of the channel’s new cooking competition BBQ Champ, ready to inject a bit of chargrilled flavour into ITV’s Friday night line-up. Pitching a set of eight amateur barbecue-specialising cooks against each other in the quest to gain the titular accolade of ‘BBQ Champ’, the show might as well be called The Great British BBQ-Off for all that it poaches from the BBC’s winning culinary formula. There’s a reason that formula works though, and while BBQ Champ isn’t as unexpectedly gripping as the Beeb’s quaint baking contest, the first episode proves enjoyable viewing.

As expected, the MVP is judge Adam Richman, the joyous presence behind not-so-guilty foodie TV pleasures like Man V Food. Nobody elegises over a succulent slow-cooked meat joint as well as Richman, and his enthusiasm for all things gloriously grease-laden and jaw-droppingly juicy is entirely infectious.

We rain-sodden Brits watch Man V Food longingly as Richman traverses the perennially sunny States sampling some of the most delicious-looking dishes known to man, making his UK debut somewhat of a tantalising proposition – are we about to find a home-grown barbecue cook who can deliver the sort of amazing-looking food that Richman’s brought to us in his American series?

The Great British Bake Off 2015 - meet the contestants

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Don’t get your hopes too high: the contestants of BBQ Champ certainly aren’t at the same ‘oh god, I’d kill a man to try that brisket right now’ level that viewers might be accustomed to. In fact, like early episodes of MasterChef, watching Episode 1 is more a case of sniffing out those who show promise and flair with a pair of tongs, and those who look a bit lost among the smoky grills.

The most engaging contestant we meet is undoubtedly Brixton-based Solomon Smith, who runs a soup kitchen in his local neighbourhood. The self-confessed Jerk King makes a supremely watchable presence. His reason for wanting to win? “People will see that I’m not just a fat guy from Brixton”. If he can stick around through the series, he deserves to become a well-known figure in his own right.

Less impressionistic is Myleene Klass, who sadly doesn’t quite emerge as an equivalent to Bake Off’s Mel and Sue – despite being the host, she never stands out among the flames. The same goes for Mark Blatchford, Richman’s fellow judge and a UK barbecue expert, who seems to take a bit of a back seat to his counterpart. Hopefully he can become a bigger personality over the rest of the series.

All in all, it’s a promising start for the show. If you cut the Great British Bake Off, it would bleed classic rustic jam. Thanks to Adam Richman’s firebrand charisma, BBQ Champ would ooze authentic smoky juices.

Adam, welcome to the UK. Long may you reign.

ITV, Friday, 9pm

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