Dawn O’Porter reveals she has the name of a kebab shop tattooed on her bottom in tribute to husband Chris O’Dowd

by

Dawn O’Porter has a tattoo on her rear of the name of the kebab shop where her husband, Chris O’Dowd, first told her he loved her.

The 46-year-old writer had the word ‘Munchies’ tattooed on her as a wedding present for Chris. She received the tattoo just a week before their three-day wedding ceremony in London in 2012.

On Tuesday night’s Celebrity MasterChef, Dawn surprised everyone with a heartfelt dish – a kebab – after reaching the final three contestants.

Dawn shared with hosts John Torode and Grace Dent that she wanted to dedicate her achievement to her husband, Chris, recalling that he first told her he loved her while they were at a kebab shop.

We were eating kebab and drinking champagne – from a plastic bag, no less! – and it was a surprisingly transformative experience.

Dawn shared a funny story about a wedding gift: she got the name of Chris’s shop, ‘Munchies,’ tattooed on her rear! She had to keep it hidden for a week leading up to the wedding because she got it done so close to the big day.

John and Grace were surprised to learn that Dawn didn’t want to take Chris’s complete Irish last name. Instead, she chose to add ‘O” to her original family name.

Dawn had a tiny ‘O’ tattooed on her right hand to honor Kristen Wiig, whose last name includes that letter.

Once the kebab was ready, John praised the delicious meat and soft bread, while Grace said it was wonderful.

After hearing what the hosts had to say, I just knew Dawn was right about Chris. She felt, and I completely agree, that he would have absolutely loved it all – it felt like such a genuine and heartfelt tribute, and I think he’d feel so loved and well-represented by it all.

Later in the show, singer Alfie Boe, age 52, was voted off of Celebrity MasterChef. This leaves Dawn, retired rugby player Alun Wyn Jones, 40, and Ginger Johnson, 37, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK series 5, to compete for the title.

Once Alfie’s departure was announced, he shared that the experience had been very meaningful and that moments like these are truly special.

‘I’m happy to be going home as a Celebrity MasterChef finalist.’

The singer quit the competition after his cake, a tribute to his late father Alfred who passed away in 1997, didn’t impress the judges. They described his Belgian Le Miserable cake as tasting ‘eggy’.

Many viewers were disappointed that Alfie was eliminated from the competition and expressed their feelings on X (formerly Twitter). One user wrote that they were heartbroken, praising Alfie’s consistently good cooking – he was ‘cook of the day’ three times – and how inspiring it was to watch him overcome his anxiety. They felt he deserved to stay on the show.

It doesn’t make sense that Ginge is still on Celebrity MasterChef – if you mess up a big team challenge, you should be eliminated. I think Alfie deserved to stay instead!

I just finished watching #celebritymasterchef with Alfie Boe, and it felt like I experienced every moment with him – I’m sure all his fans feel the same! So proud and grateful for his journey.

The remaining three contestants drove directly to Lichfield, Staffordshire, for their next challenge: the intimidating Chef’s Table.

It was held at The Boat, a three-rosette restaurant led by chef patron Liam Dillon.  

Alun, Dawn, and Ginger each prepared one of Liam’s contemporary British recipes. Their cooking was judged by six highly respected chefs: Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Sat Bains, Paul Ainsworth, Chet Sharma, David Taylor, and Chantelle Nicholson.

After the round, no one left the competition.

Okay, so the judging is officially done! Now it’s time to head back to the MasterChef kitchen where we’ll see our final three contestants battle it out – only one of them will take home the title, and honestly, it’s going to be intense!

I’m so excited for the Celebrity MasterChef 2025 final! It’s happening on Friday, December 19th, 2025, at 8pm, and I’ll be watching it live on BBC One and streaming on BBC iPlayer. I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

Read More

2025-12-17 17:35