I was caught in the crossfire of Come Dine With Me’s most infamous clash – here’s what happened when the cameras stopped rolling after the iconic ‘sad little life Jane’ speech

Caught in the crossfire of the iconic ‘sad little life Jane’ conflict, the Come Dine With Me contestant has revealed what happened after the cameras stopped rolling.

The Channel 4 program has hosted many iconic moments since it first hit screens in 2005.

Perhaps the most memorable occurred in a 2016 episode featuring participants Peter Marsh and Jane Smith.

Charlotte Whiting appeared next to the duo and was caught in the middle of that famous moment.

Peter was completely enraged after realizing he had lost £1,000 and finished last in the overall classification.

The winner raged at Jane: ‘Enjoy your money. I hope this makes you very happy.’

Charlotte Whiting was one of the contestants on that week’s episodes and witnessed the unforgettable moment play out

Peter then followed the infamous line; ‘Dear God, what a sad little life, Jane.

‘You totally ruined my night so you could get the money.’

While the other contestants sat awkwardly on the sofa, he told the winner he would spend his winnings on ‘some lessons in elegance and etiquette’.

Peter continued: ‘Because you have all the elegance of a reversing dump truck with its tires off.’

When Charlotte did not understand this rumour, she replied: ‘You wouldn’t understand. ‘Let’s be honest, there’s no one there, love.’

Shortly after, he kicked the winner and two other contestants (Jane, Charlotte and Adam) out of his house.

To talk Smooth Spins CasinoCharlotte described what happened after the cameras stopped: ‘The conversation took place while we were sitting in the front room and ended with the sentence: ‘Take your money and get off my property.’

The producer told us this was the final scene, so we set out to shoot a celebration.

‘We had a lovely moment with just the three of us and toasted Jane to her win.

‘The production asked Peter to join but he refused. It was a shame because it had been a good week and it would have been nice to reminisce as a foursome but it didn’t feel like the right time for it.’

He added: ‘I think he left the room immediately.

‘The production team followed up to make sure he was okay and tried to persuade him to do the shoot again, but he didn’t want to take part.’

Addressing being brought to that moment, he shared: ‘For me, my role in that moment was pretty clear. I was the lucky one.

‘I was only 22 and I stayed true to myself. I remember thinking he wouldn’t get any reaction from me.

‘He was upset in his own way but I chose to stay out of it and focus on the positive.’

Discussing the wider experience of the conflict, Charlotte said: ‘I remember sitting there during Peter’s speech thinking, ‘Oh, this is going to be an episode.’

‘It was my first time doing anything on television so I didn’t really know what to expect.

‘But I was a big fan of the show and knew there had been funny and dramatic episodes before.

‘We shot in the summer, around June or July, and then had to wait until the following January for it to air.

‘It was quite a long gap and I remember saying to my family and friends afterwards: ‘Just wait… just wait.’

The other contestants (Jane, Charlotte and Adam, from left) sat awkwardly during the tantrum. They were kicked out of Mr Marsh’s house shortly afterwards

He continued: ‘People now describe this episode as iconic, but at the time the word was definitely strange.

‘Looking back, the funniest thing for me is my facial expressions. I was trying to process everything that was going on.

‘Peter’s speech was really long and I remember thinking: “Wow, what do I do now?”

‘Then I realized this moment had been completely taken away from Jane. Actually, no one had congratulated her, so I did and said, “Well done, Jane.”

Charlotte also explained why Peter was upset: ‘Peter had a vision in his mind of cooking nice meals, wanting to be a great host, and how the night would end.

When he said, ‘You ruined my night,’ I don’t think he was just targeting Jane.

‘This was aimed at the three of us because Adam and I rated her lower than Jane.

‘The food didn’t impress us and the atmosphere wasn’t great.

‘It was a mixture of everything coming together. If things had gone differently he could have won, so it wasn’t what he expected.’

Come Dine With Me airs on Channel 4.