Come Dine in Medway? Yes Please!

I am a fan of Channel 4's Come Dine With Me.  Always have been, and (probably) always will be.  I feel compelled to write because there was an unusual occurrence in last week's cooks from Medway in Kent: they were nice!  Yes, actual nice, funny, sociable people who were there to have a laugh, eat some food and win a grand.  
The diners were (from left to right in picture): Nina, the 67 year old African lady with a penchant for the gym and who can claim the most infectious laugh in Kent; Patrick, the 21 year old posh art graduate with a superb ginger moustache; Laura, the bubbly, blonde bar maid who practically had a panic attack whilst crushing biscuits for her lemon cheese cake; Michael, the dad of one and semi pro footballer who nearly wept on day 2 because he wasn't getting as much attention as Patrick; and Esther, the straight-laced police communications officer who, by the end of the week, had cut her loses and stooped to the others' 'level'.  All loud, all brash, all brilliant!

Although I loved their personalities and the fact they 'got on', it was warming to observe them doing their best to eat the food (including scooped out cucumber with corned beef and 'unethical' foie gras), regardless of the hideousness of it, and being polite about it if they didn't like it: Michael, who hates fish, cheese, mushrooms, foie gras...you did a stirling job!

Unfortunately, politeness is a rare occurrence on the programme: I have been left open mouthed at the rudeness of contestants in the past: rushing to the loo to spit something out or craftily passing it over to baying pet dogs.

This focus on the social side (and the disintegration) of the dinner parties was less prominent at the beginning of its airing in 2009, where the focus was on (generally) middle class people cooking (generally) tasty meals for a few strangers.   Now it so often descends into the culinary equivalent of The Jeremy Kyle Show.   Funnily enough, the programme has never been more popular.