\n Gabriella Sotgiu, who lives in Oakenshaw, features in the five\u2011episode week beginning Monday, with her own dinner party set to be shown on Wednesday. She decided to apply after spotting a casting call on Facebook.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Sotgiu said: \u201cI love cooking and I love socialising, so I thought, why not combine the two and apply for it?\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The Come Dine with Me cast enjoying a meal (Image: Gabriella Sotgiu)\n<\/p>\n
\n She added: \u201cI hadn\u2019t lived in Bradford for long and, as a woman in my 50s who works remotely, it\u2019s not that easy to make new friends. I just thought it might be a way to meet like\u2011minded people who enjoy a laugh, good food and socialising.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Sotgiu progressed through several interview stages but was initially told she hadn\u2019t been selected, until producers asked her to join as a reserve, giving her just a week\u2019s notice before filming began.\n<\/p>\n
\n A production team visited her home for what the show calls an \u201cestablisher\u201d, a short filming session to introduce her to viewers. According to Ms Sotgiu, the days were long, but she had lots of fun whilst filming.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Sotgiu said: \u201cYou start around midday for the menu reading before going to the host\u2019s house later on. It\u2019s such a long day, but it\u2019s brilliant\u2026The crew were absolutely amazing \u2013 so lovely and respectful. I loved every minute.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n One rule meant her partner had to temporarily move out.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Sotgiu said: \u201cThey don\u2019t want anyone else in the house overhearing or getting involved, so he went to stay with family,\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n From left to right – Kulvir Singh, Thomas MacPherson Le Maire, Gabriella Sotgiu, Jason Lambert-Sykes and Akili Gregoire (Image: Gabriella Sotgiu)\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Sotgiu describes herself as a \u201ccompetent but easy-going\u201d cook, with dishes inspired by her Italian\u2011Sardinian and Irish background. Her dinner party will feature traditional recipes from both cultures.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019m all about ease but making good food,\u201d she said. \u201cMy night is very traditional Italian and Sardinian food.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n While she can\u2019t say who wins, the experience gave her exactly what she wanted.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Sotgiu added: \u201cFor me, it did everything I hoped it would. I made friends \u2013 and I still see one of the contestants all the time now,\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The new week of Come Dine With Me airs from Monday on Channel 4, with Ms Sotgiu\u2019s episode broadcast on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gabriella Sotgiu, who lives in Oakenshaw, features in the five\u2011episode week beginning Monday, with her own dinner party…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-437986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}