Zoe Salmon, ex-Blue Peter presenter and star of BBC Celebrity Masterchef, has taken on her scariest challenge to date – by agreeing to serve up a number of recipes for over 40 ghosts in the most haunted building in England.
The 32 year-old presenter is fronting Celebrity Frightened Chef – a special Halloween-themed cooking show commissioned by Lyle’s Golden Syrup – set in The Shrieve House, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
The building is officially the most haunted house in England and residence to ghosts including the Stratford Ripper, a serial killer from the 18th century, a little girl who was killed whilst pickpocketing in the tavern, murdered parliamentary soldiers and a dark hooded figure with red glowing eyes.
The unique cookery show documents Zoe Salmon struggling to cook seasonal recipes including ‘Witches Ribs’, Lyle’s Golden Syrup Cupcakes and Spiced Marshmallows with unexplained noises and apparitions appearing around her.
Zoe Salmon comments: “Creating these dishes in such an eerie setting was genuinely terrifying. Shrieve’s House is centuries old and at times we really felt like we were being watched. The film crew didn’t help to calm my nerves either, they were just as scared as me – by the end we were all jumping at even the smallest noise or creak. Cooking for John Torode and Greg Wallace on Celebrity Masterchef was a walk in the park compared to this experience.”
Elpida Gailani from Lyle’s Golden Syrup comments: “The seasonal recipes that Zoe presents in our three part cookery show are designed to inspire families to get baking and making over the winter period using the unique taste of Lyle’s Golden Syrup and Lyle’s Black Treacle”.
According to paranormal experts there are several vortexes – a portal that allows spirits from the ‘otherworld’ to pass into this one at ease – in the Shreive House building. In 2004 Most Haunted Live investigated the building and Derek Acorah was physically knocked off his feet during the investigation. Fiona Broome, a paranormal journalist from Hollowhill in America, came to Shrieve’s House and also experienced strange phenomena. She claimed that the house “knows your fears and reproduces them”.
FACTS ABOUT SHRIEVE HOUSE
• Parts of Shrieve’s House date back to 1196. The property has seen plague, fire, religious persecution and war – witnessing several key events in English history, resulting in many unwanted spirits • Many visitors to the Shrieve’s House have experienced cold spots, someone touching their hair and un-pleasant smells • Mediums have revealed that just before the step in the house there is a figure who tells the visitors to ‘get out’ and many feel his cold presence.
• William Shrieve, the archer to King Henry VII is said to welcome and protect all the visitors – as long as you acknowledge him. Mediums believe that a body is buried beneath the floors • A little girl is sometimes seen in the Tavern area with burnt hands and feet and a gaping stomach wound
Celebrity Frightened Chef will air Monday 22nd October 2012. For more details visit: www.lylesgoldensyrup.com/trickortreacle.