Channel 4’s Handcuffed Winner Charlie Gray On Teaching Lost Skills

For influencer and podcaster Charlie Gray, homemaking has always been an intrinsic part of life. As a child, her life was upended when she moved from a grand, Georgian house in Northamptonshire to a run-down farmhouse in Devon along with her mum and brother (leaving her father, who had long struggled with his temper). Here the three of them began a new life, renovating the property to run it as a B&B – and along the way, Charlie learnt many fundamental life skills, from cooking to cleaning to making her own clothes.

Many years later and now living in the Sussex countryside with her own three teenage children and husband Simon, Charlie is passing on those skills to thousands of people through her brand, Ask Charlie. Via Instagram, YouTube and online courses, Charlie shares guidance on everything from hosting to gardening to cleaning to growing food – and last year she penned her own recipe book, Through the Seasons. Her social media feed is a picture of quintessential British countryside life: attending the Cheltenham races, cooking with fresh veg from the garden, making jam and sharing tips on everything from stress-free hosting to foraging.

Most recently, she took on a very different kind of challenge: starring in the brand-new Channel 4 series Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing. Presented by Jonathan Ross, the reality show sees eight pairs of mismatched British strangers handcuffed together and sent on a road trip around the UK as they compete to win £100,000. Charlie was paired with adult content creator Rob, and together the pair went all the way to the end, winning the show. 

Below, we hear more from Charlie – plus she shares an exclusive recipe with C&TH.

Interview: Ask Charlie’s Charlie Gray

You recently starred on Handcuffed on Channel 4 – how did you find the experience?

It was amazing, terrifying, out of every comfort zone. I talk a lot about being brave and seizing opportunities, so when an opportunity like that came along, I thought, no, you know, I’m going to do this. I didn’t know the name of the show until a little bit further down the line,  so I wasn’t immediately approached saying you’re going to be handcuffed. It was very much: it’s a social experiment. I was brought up to treat other people as you would like to be treated and I went in with that philosophy. 

How do you summarise Ask Charlie?

Teaching practical skills to make life easier.

How did it first come about?

So I didn’t realise that mum was teaching my brother and I how to do all sorts of things growing up. She taught us how to iron, to cook, to clean – I just thought it was normal. And then when I had my own children, I realised that actually that wasn’t necessarily the case. Before starting Ask Charlie, I started teaching people how to cook. I’d have children that would come over and do sewing courses with me, and baking and cooking and things like that, through parents at the school. Ask Charlie began to fill this need for people that wanted to learn how to make things and learn practical skills that they hadn’t necessarily been taught growing up. I think a lot of people find it quite therapeutic –  there’s a sense of achievement when you’ve done something yourself, from buying the food or even growing the food. That’s such a huge moment when you’ve grown it, and then you’re cooking with it.

How would you describe your philosophy surrounding food?

I really love to eat seasonally. We’re designed to eat seasonal produce, we’re not designed to buy things across the world to have, you know, strawberries all year round or whatever – it’s so much healthier for our body, and you get a much better healthy balance if you’re having a varied diet of things that are produced throughout the year. So that is how I like to look at food: I believe that we are what we eat. If we fuel our body with good food, then we’re going to feel the best version of ourselves. If we eat rubbish, then we’re going to feel rubbish.

When did you start getting into cooking?

We used to bake bread every Saturday. My mum would always get me stirring things – we’d make soups, we’d chop vegetables, we’d peel them. From a tiny age, I remember standing on a stool cooking with her.

The Edible Flower cookbook

What are you excited to cook with this spring?

There are so many different ways you can use wild garlic, it’s so versatile. And the dandelions come up and they are packed full of so much goodness – dandelion tea is amazing, it’s really good for detoxing the body and clearing everything out. 

Top tips for a spring clean?

Always declutter first. I also tell people to step outside of their home and walk back in with fresh eyes: properly look and think, that needs to be sorted out. Because you don’t necessarily notice, you just get used to it. Make sure that everything’s sorted and organised, and then you can start cleaning – there’s no point cleaning around the clutter. Start at the top and work your way down.

Any wellness non-negotiables?

I get out for a walk every day no matter what the weather is, which I think is really important. And I do like to be active – I workout five times a week. I do weighted pilates. 

What are your favourite things about living in the countryside?

It’s always changing; it’s so lovely to go for a walk and have your eyes open and see the bulbs that are coming up, see the changes of the seasons. We’re so lucky to have the seasons that we have here in the UK, and actually just appreciate them all for the different different aspects, different elements. On my daily walks, I always notice something different. And currently you can hear the birds are really beginning to really sing, they’re getting prepared and excited about spring. 

Recipe: Aubergine Parmigiana

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons lemon-infused olive oil
• 2/3 aubergines peeled and sliced lengthways in
• 1⁄2″ slices
• 400g Tomato Passata (I love Pizza Express Passata but Mutti finely chopped is excellent)
• 250g Mozzarella drained and chopped into small pieces
• 2-3 tablespoons finely grated parmesan
• Fresh basil
• Sea salt to taste

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180c.
2. Peel your aubergines, then slice them lengthways until slightly thicker than a pound coin.
3. Lay your slices onto lined baking trays, then brush them with your lemon-infused olive oil and sprinkle with a little sea salt.
4. Place your trays into the oven and roast the aubergine slices for approximately 10-15 minutes. Remove once golden and leave to cool a little.
5. Spread a layer of passata into the bottom of your ovenproof dish.
6. Add a layer of aubergines, then another layer of passata.
7. Add some shredded basil leaves and mozzarella chunks.
8. Add another layer of aubergines, passata, more basil and mozzarella. Repeat this layering process until all of your aubergine has been used up.
9. For the top layer, smother over the last of the passata and mozzarella, then finish with some freshly grated parmesan.
10. Bake for 20 minutes at 180c until golden and bubbling!

Find out more at askcharlie.how; watch Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing on Channel 4.