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The inclusion of 10 or so pages of recipes between each chapter means the actual memoir is pretty brief, which is a surprise given John has had a life eventful enough to have filled many more pages.
John’s childhood on the farm and in the family chip shop has a nostalgic feel, evoking the late 1960s or 1970s rather than the reality of the 1990s.
Although there is a certain openness about his family I don’t think you ever quite get under the skin of it. I remember very clearly watching the Bake Off final that John won, and his reaction to winning being that now, finally, his Mum would be proud of him. And I remember thinking “wow if you have to win a major reality TV show to cross that Threshold there must be a lot of baggage to work through”. I am not saying that we as readers are owed anything but I feel there is a lot being left unsaid.
When we get to Strictly it was interesting to have read some of John’s reflections on the way, to paraphrase, the producers were keen that he didn’t present “too gay” with the way Leyton has been able to really lean into the queerness of his identity this year.
I was also caused to reflect on the Instagram journeys of the Kiss a Boy participants in light of the roller-coaster of celebrity – they are probably at risk of being at the crest of the wave, as the calendar rolls over in a couple of weeks they will be the stars of “last year’s” hit TV show – and I really hope that they don’t hit the ground as a result so hard they are permanently broken...
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