Television presenter and author Dawn O'Porter has shared a remarkably personal tribute to her husband, Hollywood actor Chris O'Dowd, revealing a permanent piece of body art dedicated to the fast-food restaurant where their love story took a pivotal turn.
A Kebab Shop Confession of Love
The Celebrity MasterChef contestant, aged 46, disclosed the intimate detail during Tuesday night's episode of the popular BBC cooking competition. While preparing a marinated chicken kebab with pineapple and garlic sauce, O'Porter explained the dish's significance to hosts John Torode and Grace Dent.
She recounted how O'Dowd, also 46, first told her he loved her while they were sitting in a kebab shop named 'Munchies'. "We sat in there and ate this kebab and drank champagne out of a blue plastic bag, and it obviously changed my life," the star told the captivated judges.
The Permanent 'Bottom' Line
In a grand romantic gesture ahead of their 2012 wedding, O'Porter decided to immortalise the moment. As a wedding present for her then-fiancé, she had the name of the shop, 'Munchies', tattooed on her bottom.
"I got it done a week before the wedding, and I had to hide it the whole week," she confessed, much to the surprise and amusement of Torode and Dent. The couple's three-day wedding celebration followed later that year, cementing a union that began with a late-night kebab.
MasterChef Success and Sweet Tributes
The Scottish TV star, who has chosen to use an 'O' before her maiden name rather than take O'Dowd's full Irish surname, has another, smaller tattoo in honour of her husband: a tiny 'O' inked on her right hand.
Her culinary tribute on Celebrity MasterChef proved successful, with John Torode praising the "fantastic" meat and "fluffy" bread, and Grace Dent declaring the dish "fabulous". The positive feedback secured O'Porter a coveted place in the final three of the competition.
She will now compete against retired rugby player Alun Wyn Jones, 40, and RuPaul's Drag Race UK series 5 winner Ginger Johnson, 37, for the title after singer Alfie Boe was eliminated following his Belgian Le Miserable cake failing to impress the judges.
Reflecting on her kebab creation, O'Porter said, "I think Chris will have loved all that. I think he'll feel very well represented and loved." The couple, who married in 2012, share two children together.
