Blackburn TV presenter AJ Odudu was the latest guest on a ‘dream menu’ podcast, and compared her mum’s kitchen tap to the holy springs of Lourdes.

AJ, who is presenting the upcoming new series of Big Brother and rose to fame on Strictly Come Dancing, appeared on the hit Off Menu podcast with Ed Gamble and James Acaster.

In it, she was tasked with picking her dream starter, main course, side dish, dessert and drink from throughout her life – with guests often opting for nostalgic meals from their childhood or fancy meals from some of the world’s poshest restaurants.

AJ opted mainly for homemade nostalgia, from her childhood born and raised in Blackburn to Nigerian parents, as one of eight children who attended St Bede’s RC High School and St Mary’s College in the town.

The meal starts off with choosing still or sparking water, and AJ was adamant on her selection.

She said: “Still, but actually tap water, especially Blackburn.

“I’m born and raised in Blackburn and the water is honestly delicious. In Blackburn, Lancashire, the water coming out of those taps is from the Pennines darlings, so it’s stunning, it’s delicious.

“All through my youth I didn’t get bottled water. Why in the UK is anyone paying for water? But then I moved to London and you can taste the difference, this tap water is disgusting.

“So it’s got to be Blackburn tap water from my mum’s kitchen tap.

“My dream meal, my dream water, it’s in my mum’s kitchen. It’s the first thing I do when I go home to visit her, I go to the tap. And I take a big water bottle and bring some Blackburn water back with me.

Lancashire Telegraph: AJ described Blackburn tap water as stunningAJ described Blackburn tap water as stunning (Image: Pixabay)

“It’s like Lourdes for Catholics; they get the water to heal themselves. That’s what I’m like in Blackburn, it’s like holy water. And when I run out, I’m gutted.”

On the next course, poppadom or bread, AJ was one of the few guests in the show’s 200 episode history to pick poppadom.

She said she prefers the lightness of them and would take two poppadom, and after a bizarre exchange on the toppings, opted to have them with tuna mayonnaise and cheese, melted.

For her starter, AJ went for homemade cheese on toast, with strong, mature cheddar and thickly sliced brown seeded bread.

She also added that toast under the grill and a cup of tea was the first thing she was taught to cook in home economics lessons at her school, St Bede’s RC High School.

Lancashire Telegraph: AJ picked her mum's home cooking for her dream main courseAJ picked her mum's home cooking for her dream main course (Image: Channel 4)

For her main course, AJ went for starch with ogbono soup “cooked in Nigeria on my mum’s veranda”.

Starch, she said is “yellow and jiggly but it’s really nice” but noted “when I went to Lagos they had no idea what this dish was”.

“When I called my mum, I asked why they didn’t know what it was, and she said it was more popular in the south, far away from Lagos.

“To be honest, I have no idea how this soup is made, it just comes to me. It has meat in it – lamb or white fish – it’s spicy, it has to be tasted to be appreciated, I can’t describe it.

“On the spice-o-meter for me it’s quite mild but for others it might be off the chart.”

During the chat she also let slip that she used to get detentions not infrequently at school for chatting and rather than doing lines after school she was made to empty the bins, which led to her becoming chatty and friendly with the cleaners and dinner ladies, and meant she would get a free bottle of limeade from them.

For her side, AJ opted for creamed spinach which “makes her feel so posh in a restaurant”, from Dean Street Townhouse in Soho, London.

For her dream drink, AJ first thought of a “little glass of fizz from an airport Wetherspoons before you go on holiday, at 11am”.

“It’s like a dream in itself,” she said, “but I also like canned pina coladas from M&S, they’re so good for a picnic in the park or a train journey.

“My favourite at the moment is a margarita; people think it’s basic but actually I think it’s quite boujee, you need an acquired taste for it, and it has to be a salty rim.”

AJ eventually landed on a rum and Coke in an airport Wetherspoons for her dream drink.

For dessert, AJ went for custard and cake, “one of my favourite all time desserts”.

She said: “It reminds me of home; my dad has a sweet tooth and before I got my own place I lived in his living room basically, and he’d knock on the door and say, ‘do you want some custard and cake’.

“It felt naughty, it was bedtime and we’d crack open a can of custard and pour it over some cake; it was just lovely.

“This was our big dessert growing up, it was all about custard and cake. Hot custard on cake.”

Summing up her meal, AJ added: “That’s lovely that. I’m a real homebody.”

In the show, AJ, 35, displayed her knowledge of the zodiac, playfully bragging her star sign – Aquarius – is one of the most popular star signs among successful people.

She also gave a shout out to Blackburn Morrisons’ iconic clock which features a lion and monkeys.

She will present the new series of Big Brother on ITV2.