by Martin Jefferies

An Italian hairdresser and an experimental artist are among five food lovers from Thanet battling it out in the new series of Come Dine with Me.

Marcello Marino, of Ramsgate, and Anthony Wait, of Margate, both
feature in this week's episodes of the hit Channel 4 TV show.

In Tuesday's episode, Marcello hoped to impress with his Italian
and Spanish menu and salsa dance display.

However, the sound of his Lasagne à la Mia Mamma failed to
inspire his guests
and his starter of pimientos piquillo – or stuffed peppers – left
everyone guessing.

But after dishing out the insults to guests with quips about their clothes and appearance, fiery Marcello has faced the wrath of Come Dine with Me fans, who posted a stream of angry comments on the social networking site Twitter.

Tonight, Anthony – who once attempted to flog extra-value

Christmas puddings at £50 each in the name of art – decides

not to practise his cooking beforehand and hires a busty burlesque

dancer to perform for Marcello.

He also hopes to enrol his guests in his latest art project,
which uses body parts including toe nails and hair.

On Monday, full-time mum Lydia Jones served up a French-inspired
menu, while Donna Grieves, of Margate, used local ingredients for
her 'best of British' menu, although her papillote vegetables are
likened by one guest to an aeroplane sick bag.

Donna, who
featured in last night's episode, also revealed she was emigrating
from her life-long home to Australia.

The week's final would-be chef is building boss Chris Newbold,
who leaves much of his cooking to the last minute.

In the show, guests compete for a £1,000 top prize and judge
each other on the quality of the food and the atmosphere around the
dinner table.

Come Dine with Me started in January 2005 and is now in its 22nd
series.

Several celebrity episodes have been filmed, starring the likes
of glamour model Danielle Lloyd, the Labour MP Diane Abbott and
former Big Brother contestants Nadia Almada, Brian Belo, Sophie
Reade and Brian Dowling.

Last year, the show was nominated for a National Television Award.