Peebles chocolate guru up for Hairy Bikers Chocolate Challenge

Peebles-based chocolatier Ruth Hinks will be back on your screens next week as a judge on the Hairy Bikers’ latest cooking show.
Hairy Bikers and Ruth HinksHairy Bikers and Ruth Hinks
Hairy Bikers and Ruth Hinks

The Hairy Bikers’ Chocolate Challenge sees the hirsute cooks task seven amateur chocoholics with coming up with sweet somethings with the series winner having the chance to concoct a new chocolate bar for Nestle, in the form of a new KitKat bar.

Speaking to the Southern today, Ruth said she was excited about the project.

She said: “It was such fun making the show.

Ruth and Saqib in Kitchen laughingRuth and Saqib in Kitchen laughing
Ruth and Saqib in Kitchen laughing
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“It’s kind of like a great mix between the Great British Bake Off and The Apprentice, with the winner having their bar sold nationwide.

“The Hairy Bikers are a real hoot to work with, and the contestants are really nice.

“It’s given me a great opportunity to use my chocolate weight.”

Dave Myers, one half of the lovable telly chefs, said: “We loved working with Ruth, who is our judge on the chocolate side.

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“She’s a world champion chocolatier, who also runs a chocolate factory: she knows everything about chocolate.”

About the show, he said: “Above all it’s a human story, about these seven people who are lovely.

“It’s a nostalgic, comfortable programme. I’m really proud to be part of it, and I know Si is as well.”

Ruth, who owns and runs Cocoa Black in Peebles, is not new to our screens, having previously appeared in the BBC documentary The River and in the 2019 show Extreme Chocolate Makers.

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The first female UK Chocolate Master also hit the headlines by making the famous Flying Scotsman train in chocolate ahead of its appearance on the Borders Railway.

It’s the Hairy Bikers’ first show on Channel Five,

Of the show, Dave’s other half, Simon King said: “The show is based on Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, albeit a competitive show.

“It’s full of warmth and fun to watch and it was really good fun to make too.

“The contestants were fantastic, honestly, the casting was superb.

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“Right from the very beginning you were invested in the contestants and wanting them to do well.

“There’s not many shows you get like this, because it was fun, and it was warm, and a good giggle, even though they were all under enormous amount of pressure to achieve what they needed to do to get through the rounds.

“They were such a lovely bunch of people; very diverse characters and very diverse personalities but they were just brilliant.

“It was like one big chocolate family.”

Become a part of that family by watching the show, which appears on Wednesday evening on Channel 5 at 9pm.

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