Celebrity MasterChef’s Ginger Johnson will make Christmas dinner after win

Celebrity MasterChef star Ginger Johnson has said she will make Christmas dinner for her partner after winning the show.

Johnson, who won the fifth series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2023, made her own version of the festive lunch in honour of her father during the BBC One cooking series, which she described as “a very emotional day”, and will remake it for her partner Vyv this Christmas.

She told the Press Association: “I’ve made Christmas dinner for the past few years for my partner and I, but normally we actually keep it really simple… because when there’s two of you, making 15 side dishes is kind of pointless, you know?

“I actually normally have steak and chips for Christmas dinner because I’m a grown woman, and I’ll do what I like.

“But this year we’re going to have the menu that I made on the show, we’re going to have the salmon, sprouts, salad and all of that.”

Johnson, whose real name is Donald Marshall, said the Celebrity MasterChef trophy could be the centrepiece of their Christmas table, and added that she would have to clear space next to her Drag Race crown to display it permanently.

Speaking about making the dish dedicated to her father on the show, she added: “It was a very emotional day in the kitchen for all of us there, because food is a very personal, emotional thing, and getting to have that opportunity to dedicate something to somebody special in your life – it was really a wonderful experience.”

The star, who comes from a small village in County Durham, said she was looking forward to her next challenge, adding that she would “try anything” but would not be cooking in drag again.

Johnson added: “I learned that wearing a giant plastic wig in a boiling hot kitchen is not a sensible life choice.

“At the best of times, I am the incredible melting woman when I’m on stage and in drag, drag is not a very comfortable situation to be in, you’ve got lots of layers, you’ve got all sorts of glue, glueing things on to your face and body.

“It’s not a very comfortable situation, and to add to that, to be in the kitchen, it’s not a great move.

“So it was a big relief when I got off the show to actually get back to enjoying a bit of cooking again, without the time pressure, without the judgment, and without the giant wig.”

Johnson won the show’s final, beating former rugby player Alun Wyn Jones and author and broadcaster Dawn O’Porter with a 1970s dinner party-themed menu.