While Gordon Ramsay is the person most known for murdering people on Masterchef and its spinoffs, that’s solely in a metaphorical sense. But it appears as if the U.K. series Celebrity Masterchef had an actual alleged murderer on the show earlier this year without anyone being the wiser. Creepiest reality TV moment ever? Perhaps.
This past weekend, Barking resident Stephen Port – seen above on the left – was charged with four counts of murder in addition to four counts of administering a poison with intent to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm. But some months back, he could be seen on a Series 9 episode of Celebrity Masterchef, assisting former boy band member JB Gill in the competition as well as serving pasta and meatballs to bus drives in an East London garage. The assumed serial killer was also apparently wearing a blond wig for some reason. Maybe he’s been a suspect for a while and didn’t want to be recognized, though if that’s the case, appearing on a widely-viewed TV show wasn’t a very wise idea.
According to The Independent, Port is suspected of killing four men that he supposedly met on websites aimed at gay people. In a series of murders that began well over a year ago, he allegedly invited each of them to his house and soon after poisoned them with the date rape drug GHB. After the men were dead, their bodies were dumped in a London churchyard.
It all started back in June 2014, when fashion and design student Anthony Walgate was found on Cooke St. He was followed up by Slovakia native Gabriel Kovari, who was found by someone walking their dog near St. Margaret’s churchyard on August 28. That very same dog walker was out on September 20, just a month later, and he found the body of 21-year-old Daniel Whitworth. The final victim, Jack Taylor, was found on September 14 of 2015, which either means the killer stopped for a while in order to practice his culinary skills, or he started hiding the bodies somewhere else. They weren’t even all linked together initially, but further investigation led to the case being given to the Metro Police homicide and major crime command, and they put it together.
Port, who likely won’t be serving anyone food on TV at any point in the future, appeared at the preliminary hearing, where a provisional timetable for the case was set up. If all goes according to plan, the plea and case management hearing will be held on January 6, 2016, with the actual trial coming on April 11. No application for bail was made.
If there’s a moral to be found here, it’s “Always be careful about who you let serve meatballs in garages, and probably everyone else as well.”
