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‘We’re a very foodie family. Food has been a really important part of growing up.’
Prior to this year’s series of Celebrity MasterChef, Ginger Johnson was best known as the winner of BBC’s RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, a title she was awarded in 2023.
Two years later, she’s kept up her winning streak, going two for two by also nabbing the coveted Celebrity MasterChef trophy after going head-to-head with broadcaster Dawn O’Porter and rugby star Alun Wyn Jones.
Metro spoke to Ginger following her victory, having served judges Grace Dent and John Torode a spectacular 1970s-inspired three-course meal to secure her win.
While speaking to the drag legend on Zoom, who’s embarking on her new tour Show Pony in the new year, I could spy the Celebrity MasterChef trophy behind her in her retro kitchen.
‘It’s on the kitchen windowsill for now, I think it needs its own shelf. I’ll find the most fabulous way to present it,’ she promised.
The culinary extraordinaire admitted that she hadn’t seen her victory coming in the slightest, describing the final result of the BBC competition as a ‘Christmas miracle’.
‘I feel phenomenal. I’m not gonna lie. I’m having a great time. It feels fabulous. It really, really does,’ she told us.
Of course, the actual final episode of the series was filmed before it was broadcast on TV – so when Ginger’s trophy arrived at her house, she was petrified that someone was going to spot it prematurely.
‘I’m so lucky that my family are so supportive of me in my real life and in my drag life.’
‘I wrapped it in a blanket and hid it under my bed. It was like the ring from Lord of the Rings. I was like, I’ve got to keep this secret and safe,’ she recalled.
Now, she can proudly display her precious for everyone to see.
Two people who are very proud of all of Ginger’s success are her parents. When she was crowned the winner of Celebrity MasterChef, she said in the episode that she couldn’t wait to tell them the news.
‘They’re absolutely over the moon. They really are. I’m so lucky that my family are so supportive of me in my real life and in my drag life,’ she told us.
‘But I think MasterChef was kind of almost more special for them than Drag Race, because although they got really involved in Drag Race and they watched it all, they really got into it, it’s so far out of their experience of the world.
‘I’ve got new fans that are children, which is spectacular.’
‘Whereas with MasterChef, we’re a very foodie family, food has been a really important part of growing up, and especially my relationship with my dad has been a lot about food and sharing those experiences together. So I think it was really, really special for them to see me do that.’
Outside of Ginger’s own family, she’s proven a hit among families watching Celebrity MasterChef together, receiving messages from numerous people who’ve discovered her on TV for the first time.
‘I’ve had lots of messages from people that say they’ve watched it with their kids, and I’ve now got new fans that are children, that are fans of Ginger Johnson, which is spectacular,’ she said.
‘In the episode where I dedicated the dish to my dad, I had a lot of dads and queer people whose dads have also supported them get in touch to say how much that meant to them. That’s so wonderful. That is the real joy of these experiences, being able to represent that for people on primetime BBC TV. It’s a very special experience.’
‘Getting to connect with a live audience of people is so, so exciting.’
Clearly, Ginger has a knack for conquering any TV competition she sets her mind to. So what could be next? Strictly Come Dancing? Celebrity Traitors?
‘If Celebrity Traitors calls, I will be saying yes. That would be a real dream of mine. I would love to do that,’ she promised.
First and foremost, she’s embarking on her tour Show Pony, which will begin next year and last into 2027 and is inspired by people whom she ‘considers to be show ponies’.
‘Last year, my tour was called Ginger Johnson Blows Off, and I got shot out of a cannon every night at the end of the show. I was sort of a daredevil, Evel Knievel stunt woman style thing, and it took a toll, I’m not gonna lie,’ she stated.
‘So I’m retreating back into a world of glamour with this new show, and it’s inspired by people that I consider to be show ponies. I think a show pony is a very specific type of person that really thrives in the spotlight, like Lady Gaga and Debbie McGee. That’s who’s inspiring this new show.’
Ginger’s success on Celebrity MasterChef has given her a ‘new lease of life in the kitchen’, which she’s going to try to bring more of into her work in the future.
Nonetheless, being on the stage is where she’s at her most comfortable, as it’s what ‘gets her out of bed in the morning’.
‘There’s something so transformative about it. Drag is transformative in itself, but getting to connect with a live audience of people is so, so exciting.’
Celebrity MasterChef is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Tickets for the Show Pony tour are available from www.gingerjohnson.co.uk.
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