The former Come Dine With Me contestant appeared on the Channel 4 hit show back in 200514:59, 04 Aug 2026A Come Dance With Me contestant has shared some behind-the-scenes secrets.‌The Channel 4 hit show sees a group of strangers compete for the title of ultimate dinner party host - and £1,000. Narrated by Dave Lamb,It has been a hit with fans since it first appeared on our TV screens back in 2005.‌Over the years viewers have seen some of the most iconic moments that have gone down in history as some of the greatest on British TV.‌Now, a former contestant Benjy Potter has revealed some little known secrets from when he appeared on the show back in June 2020.In a series of clips shared to TikTok, Benjy revealed that each dinner party lasts a whopping eight hours.‌He explained that you get dropped off at a "random house usually no more than 45 minutes away from yours" at around 4pm, and stop filming at midnight.He explained: “One of the things that people don’t realise is that the dinner parties last eight hours. So you get in a cab and they don’t tell you where the cab is going."You get dropped off at a random house - usually no more than 45 mins away from yours at about 4pm and you wrap filming at about midnight. So, you might see half and hour on telly but it lasts eight hours.”‌And because the filming takes eight hours he explained that the food is "always cold". He continued: "They have to take so many different shots of it but by the time it gets on our plate and you eat it, it's cold."As the dinner parties take a long time to film, it comes as no surprise that things can get a bit rowdy.‌Benjy claimed that producers "more often than not" had to take alcohol away from contestants if they'd had too much."It didn't happen on our show, but apparently it happens a lot," he said,He explained: “One thing that they take away from contestants that you don’t see on the finished show is booze. Our crew that worked on our show told us that more often than not they have to take away alcohol from the contestants on the show because they get too drunk.”‌He added: “If you imagine the dinner parties are eight hours long, people are going to drink and drink to calm their nerves. They didn’t have to do it on our show but apparently it happens a lot.”Benjy also dropped a huge behind-the-scenes secret about the iconic black cab sequence at the end - where contestants seemingly head home in a taxi, and give their verdict on the night.He explained: "One thing people don't actually realise is that the black cab is fake. And by that I mean it picks you up just to do the scoring, goes twice around the block, and then brings you back to the house you're in, and you go back in a mini cab later."Article continues belowCome Dine With Me airs weekdays at 6:30pm on Channel 4.