1 week ago
8
A dad who became known as the 'whisk man' after going viral from a Come Dine With Me appearance is recognised all over the world but has also been physically assaulted because of the notoriety.
Wedding DJ Kev Riley became a meme when his dinner party trick on the Channel 4 show became an internet sensation in 2013.
The 44-year-old self-confessed cooking novice has since been recognised by foreign waiters abroad, was plastered on a flag during a Coldplay Glastonbury performance and is also stopped in the street daily.
Kev, who uses the clip viewed millions of times online to promote his DJ events, says the whisk moment changed his life forever.
He told MailOnline: 'It's just been incredible. It still is, even after all of these years I am getting fame for it. It doesn't go away. It keeps going viral.
'It is quite mad really. I am recognised everywhere I go. I can't just mind my own business. Social media and Tiktok in particular has made it incredible.
'It is like being a full-time celebrity. It was filmed in 2012 and broadcast the year after and I'd say there's been more fame in the last year or so because of TikTok.'
However, he has also revealed a darker side to his internet fame, after being randomly punched on a night out in home town of Burnley, Lancashire, while with his wife.
Wedding DJ Kev Riley, 44, became a meme when his dinner party trick on the Channel 4 show became an internet sensation in 2013
The viral clip of Kev filmed in 2012 has been viewed millions of times online
He said: 'I was having a nice night out with my wife in Burnley a while ago.
'This bloke came up to me and asked if I was the bloke from Come Dine With Me and the whisk.
'I said yes and he just punched me in the face. It was awful really. I was with my wife and we were just having a nice evening.
'It's a real shame. I also ignore a lot of comments on social media. It was a laugh and some people have taken it in different ways.'
Kev, who says that everyone in Burnley knows him as the 'whisk guy from Come Dine With Me', even revealed that he has been recognised internationally.
He said: 'I was relaxing in Corfu a few years ago and these Greek waiters came up and started cheering at me, saying I was the whisk man. It was incredible. They weren't even British, they had seen it online.
'When it was filmed my daughter was a new born baby. Now, she is fully aware and gets people speaking to her about it as well. It's totally changed my life.'
Kev, who says the whisk moment changed his life forever, says he is often recognised in public, but also revealed a dark side to the fame after being punched in the face on a night out
In a 'surreal' moment for Kev, a flag with his iconic whisk moment was flown at Glastonbury Festival last year
Kev even uses the famous clip to help promote his DJ events
Come Dine With Me has broadcast 41 series and an astonishing 1,600 episodes - with tens of thousands of different contestants.
But nobody has quite had the same level of fame as Kev.
He is keen to stress though, that fortune has not followed as a result.
He added: 'I haven't made money from this. If I had, maybe I'd have been a millionaire. But it's just about the laugh.
'It's been great fun. I have always had a quirky personality.'
Out of those thousands of contestants, few have probably been so ill-prepared to take part in a cookery competition as Kev.
Kev performs as a DJ and also owns a business which provides card machines. He insists he has made no money from his fame, but finds it 'great fun'
The DJ has said that everyone in his home town of Burnley knows him as 'the whisk guy from Come Dine With Me'
He revealed: 'I'd never watched Come Dine With Me, I have not watched it since and I don't like cooking. It's not for me.
'A mate had put my name forward as a laugh. It was all an accident really. It all went from there. I did not practice or prepare and I actually came last.
'I now know how big the show is, but back then I didn't. It has not inspired me to cook. I still do not like it.'
The whisk moment happened by pure luck when Kev was making his dessert of a cheesecake.
This was following a starter of stuffed peppers and a main course of 'disco chicken'.
He said: 'I was being filmed in the kitchen preparing. It was all a split-second thing really. It was madness.
'I was stirring the bowl, and there was a producer there. I just turned around and did that.
Kev, who had never watched Come Dine With Me prior to appearing on the show, says he still 'does not like' cooking
'It felt strange being filmed and I was not used to cooking. The cameraman started laughing. I asked if it would be included and he said it absolutely would.
'I did not really think anymore about it until it broadcast on television. Now I get notifications all the time when it does the rounds on social media.'
Notifications also started flooding into his phone when a flag was seen at Glastonbury during a Coldplay performance which had his face on.
He added: 'That was surreal. My phone didn't stop. It took some getting used to. I was shocked at that.'
'I am a normal bloke who can't cook and just goes viral. It's all very mad.'
English (US) ·