Four complete strangers are thrown together to play host and cook dinner parties for each other– then they all vote to decide which host gets the £1,000 prize.

You can't miss Chris, he's the little fella dressed as a cowboy, an artist who lives in a tiny flat cum studio cum art gallery in Brincliffe.

"None of us knew each other beforehand," says 4ft 8in Chris, who joins forces with businesswoman Susanne Bell, housewife Hazel Glossop from Southey Green and Stannington lad Ollie Baxter to put the city on the culinary map.

Or do they?

The first time they all met was at Susanne's west Sheffield home when she served them up scallops followed by venison.

"It was a bit nerve-wracking," recalls Chris.

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Not to be out done he cooked frogs legs meunière, whole leg of lamb rogan josh and bread and butter pudding with croissants.

"It wasn't easy cooking in a tiny kitchen and pretending not to notice the sound recordist, cameraman and director," laughs Chris.

He had a novel way of cooking the lamb. "I cooked it in the microwave on simmer for one hour 20 minutes. It would have taken four hours in the oven. It worked!" he says.

Chris, who was once a local DJ known as the Mighty Atom, has no idea how the programme picked him but suspects it was from his Facebook site.

Producer Lee Servis says: "The Sheffield show is a cracking watch and my personal favourite.

"This group of strangers came flying out of the blocks with none of the usual inhibitions and were incredibly and refreshingly warm, honest, humorous and a tad risqué."

The film crew spent a day following each of the diners around. With Chris they watched him paint, nudes and his "Positronic Paintings" inspired by quantum physics.

Chris once tried to nominate himself for the Turner Prize and got a personal letter of rejection from Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate.

The programme also followed him fishing at Killamarsh. "I caught nothing until three minutes before the end when I landed an 8-10lb carp.

"I kissed it before I put it back."

While everyone got on well, the four diners have not kept in touch.

Chris will be watching the show with friends at the Beauchief Hotel but none of the other three will be there.

Come Dine With Me is on Channel 4 at 8pm on Thursday.

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