MasterChef Australia fans outraged over rumours Jamie Oliver is set to replace Jock Zonfrillo on the new season

By Mary Mrad For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 02:43 EDT, 21 September 2023 | Updated: 02:54 EDT, 21 September 2023

In a clearing in a forest, a gravel path gives way to a square of tarmac that is about the size of a football pitch. It is all that is left of what was once the runway at Munich-Riem airport. It was from a point near there that the Busby Babes began their final journey on February 6th 1958.

There are two thick white lines running down the middle of the tarmac, the remnants of airport markings. But there is not much else to identify it. Even those lines are stained by tyre tracks, tell-tale signs of kids finding a hidden spot to spin cars in roaring circles, doing doughnuts after dark.

The echoes of the saddest moments in Manchester United’s history whisper at you as you stand there, gazing into the distance where the runway once led. ‘It’s now or never,’ Roger Byrne, United’s skipper, said as the British European Airways twin-engine Elizabethan sat there on the tarmac, preparing to make its third take-off attempt.

When Sir Bobby Charlton, the last living survivor of the disaster that killed eight Manchester United players, regained consciousness as he lay in the snow amid the plane’s wreckage at the other end of the runway, he saw Byrne still strapped in his seat and realised straight away that he was dead.

The old control tower, an ochre outlier beside the glass frontages of the shopping mall and the international congress centre that have been built on the old airfield, is the only other remnant of Munich-Riem. To stare up at it is to imagine the horror that gripped the people who occupied it that February evening and saw the Elizabethan ploughing through the snow.

It is still hard to reconcile the horrors of those moments 65 years ago with the everyday life that unfolds around the crash site now. In late afternoon on Monday, boys spilled out of primary school on their scooters and sang and laughed as they made their way home. One stopped briefly and reached up to pull fruit from the low-hanging branches of a quince tree.

It rained in squalls on Monday afternoon. At the crash site, a bouquet had been placed at the foot of the plinth that commemorates the 23 footballers, club staff and journalists, who died. The little square, which sits at the edge of a ploughed field, was renamed Manchesterplatz in honour of those who did not come home.

There was no one else there on Monday, Cars hurried past on a busy road but it is still a peaceful place. The plinth, and a display case filled with tributes to the ‘Flowers of Manchester’ sheltered from the rain beneath the kindly and noble boughs of four lime trees.

More will visit on Tuesday and more still on Wednesday, the day when the successors to Byrne and Charlton and Eddie Colman and Harry Gregg and David Pegg and Duncan Edwards and the rest of them take on Bayern Munich in their first match of this season’s Champions League group stage.

This is a place of pilgrimage for United fans, a place where you can still feel the soul of the club as well as the sorrow of what happened and the way the memory of those who died here drove United on to win the European Cup at Wembley ten years later.

Everyone whose family comes from Manchester has a story about the Babes and the crash and how it touched them. My mother’s family lived in Denstone Avenue in Urmston and, in the days before footballers lived behind the locked gates of mansions, Dennis Viollet and his family lived in a club-owned terraced house opposite them.

When the plane crashed, Viollet’s wife, Barbara, was desperate for news but the club had not provided them with a phone line. My grandmother and grandfather relayed what news they could. Finally, she was able to make a call from their house that told her Dennis had survived relatively unscathed.

My dad’s story was more straightforward. He rode his bike from Stockport up to Ringway Airport and waited by the side of the road to pay his respects as the coffins of the dead players were taken by car into Manchester city centre.

The modern United was built on the legend of Matt Busby, who was gravely injured in the crash, and of those brilliant young players who perished. They built the club that became the biggest in the world, and Sir Alex Ferguson nurtured it before things began to change so that now supporters wonder what has happened to their club’s soul.

Out here in Bavaria, with the memories of the boys who died, sometimes feels like as good a place to locate it as any. ‘We’ll Never Die,’ the words written on a scarf in the display case under the lime trees say and for all the sadness of this spot, there is something wonderfully uplifting about it, too.

As United prepare to play Bayern, reeling from scandal after scandal with Mason Greenwood, Antony and Jadon Sancho, struggling to come to terms with the manner of their defeat to Brighton at the weekend, starting to ask questions about Erik ten Hag, lost in anger at the dereliction wrought by the Glazers, this place stands for something else.

Sure, United will be desperate to win in the Allianz Arena on Wednesday evening and others will be delighted if Harry Kane puts one over on the team that that had flirted with buying him in the past and should be regretting not doing so amid all the mediocrity they have injected into the side.

But what is left of the old airfield at Munich-Riem is not the place for such worries and fretting. There is a timelessness about this place that make rivalries seem petty and inconsequential. There is a Manchester City scarf among those in pride of place in the memorial display. There are pictures of players immortalised by what happened here.

The world of film has its picture of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause as its version of a star who never got old. Football’s James Dean is Duncan Edwards, his chest puffed out, standing at the end of the line of United players before a European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade, their last before the crash. For all of us who never saw him play, he will always be a 21-year-old hero, a player who could have been the greatest ever.

Edwards died at the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich 15 days after the crash and this month, the hospital’s in-house magazine published an interview with Elisabeth Weber, one of the nurses who treated the injured United players and Busby and became known as The Angels of Munich.

When Elisabeth spoke to the interviewer, the interviewer noted that she was wearing a United scarf with the words ‘Lest we Forget’ emblazoned on it. She, and others, were honoured by the Queen for the care they gave to United’s stricken team.

And so there will be rivalry when the clubs meet on Wednesday but there will be something deeper that is shared, too, something which is always shared when United visit this beautiful city whose name looms so large in its history.

‘Thank you to the wonderful citizens of Munich for 60 years of respect and compassion,’ a message from United fans reads at the crash site. Underneath the limes, there is a bench with a plaque on it, too. ‘To the Munich citizens in thanks,’ it says, from the ‘supporters of MUFC.’

Princess Andre led the celebrity offspring revealing their GCSE results as she went live on Instagram shortly after receiving her grades.

The daughter of Katie Price and Peter Andre, 16, told fans she had passed three of her seven exams, after failing to obtain higher than a four in the subjects.

Princess explained that you need to achieve at least a grade four in order to pass the exam, while the highest mark possible is a nine.

In the video, Princess was joined by her father Peter, 50, who told her he was so proud of her for ‘working her butt off’ ahead of the exams.

Princess, who is already signed to fashion brand PrettyLittleThing, said: ‘I didn’t pass all of them, but it’s fine, because I passed some of them! Apparently grade boundaries were really high this year.’

Peter said: ‘I’m proud of you, I think you worked your butt off. You know what, you worked really hard. saw you working hard, which to me is more important’

Princess revealed she received a 3 in business; a 3 in drama; a 5 in English; a 6 in fashion; a 4 in music; a 3 in geography and a 3 in maths.

Reflecting on her marks, she said: ‘I need to resit maths. I got 89 but I needed 98 out of 200 to pass maths. I think a four is a C.’

Peter reiterated: ‘I can’t speak for every parent, but seeing you work hard is all I need. Look what you got in English!’

Princess: ‘I was bottom set so the best mark you can get it a 5.’

Elsewhere, Jamie Oliver shared a supportive message to children with dyslexia on – saying it can be a ‘stressful day’ for those with learning difficulties.

The TV chef, 48, was among celebrities sending their well wishes on the Year 11 results day, while other nervous parents including Dan Walker revealed their child was one of the pupils awaiting their fate.

Jamie, was himself diagnosed with dyslexia in primary school, posted the positive message to his Instagram page on Thursday morning.

Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects accurate and fluent word reading and spelling, which affects individuals of all intelligence levels and can result in poor or inconsistent spelling and writing.

Jamie has previously been candid about his experience with the condition and explained that he has ‘come to terms’ with not learning the same way as others.

Understanding that it may be a difficult day for some, the empathetic star admitted a ‘lot of bright kids’ may be disappointed with the GCSE results they receive. 

Writing on Instagram, he said: ‘Today is GCSE results day, which I know can be a stressful time. A lot of bright kids with dyslexia will be frustrated by what they receive, because the education system doesn’t play to their strengths – but I’m always keen to say don’t let this define you.

‘The wider world is more open to you coming at life in a slightly different way. You don’t have to be conventional, you just have to have the confidence to do it. 

‘And remember, school is just one part of your journey. We’ve come a long way since I was at school, but it’s nowhere near enough. 

‘We need to embrace everyone’s inner genius, which definitely comes in different shapes and forms. Whatever your results today, I know you can and will achieve amazing things! #gcse.’

Alongside his kind words, Jamie posted a picture of himself posing against a promotional poster for his book, Billy and the Giant Adventure.

Elsewhere on social media, Channel 5 presenter Dan, 46, revealed his eldest child, Susanna, 16, was one of the teenagers expecting their GCSE results.

Dan, who said it was the first time he was experiencing the day as a parent, said: ‘All the best to everyone getting their GCSE results today… and big love to the parents involved (I am one of them for the first time).’

Sharing his own experience of GCSE results day, The Chases’ ‘Dark Destroyer’ Shaun Wallace posted an encouraging message on his Twitter page.

The successful quizzer revealed that he had flunked his own exams and insisted that results are about more than just coming top of the class. 

He said: ‘Results normally follow hard work It’s not always about coming top of the class, it’s about coming ‘top’ of your potential But when you work to your full potential, results often follow. Speaking from experience, I failed my exams! Have a great day.’

He also posted a clip, where he said: ‘Nothing works until you do!’ 

Coronation Street actress Cait Fitton, who plays Lauren Bolton, shared a message of support on behalf of the soap cast on their Twitter page. 

In April, Jamie said he recorded his first books on a Dictaphone instead of writing them down because of his struggles with dyslexia.

Last year, Jamie discussed his ‘frustrating’ struggle with dyslexia in a lengthy post as he explained he put his resentment towards school behind him.

Posting a carousel of lengthy text panels, Jamie detailed his battle, beginning: ‘Something i don’t really talk about much is the constant battle I have with words and reading…without question it is a love hate relationship.

‘In the old days at school it made me very frustrated and resentful about school as an institution and over the years i’ve come to terms with not learning the same way as most people not as a failure but an opportunity. 

‘An opportunity to look at things very differently, I’m older enough now to have a little wisdom on my shoulders only gained by the way mainly through failures and learning from them and evolving and staying authentic o the original dream and trying again and again and I realise my grammar here is s**t.

‘I’m also using autocorrect which can get me in a lot of trouble sometimes but that’s my point… if you understand what I’m saying I’ve done my job.’

Jamie continued to detail his struggle during school, admitting that getting info on paper was ‘almost impossible’ as he recalled ‘hating words and reading with a passion’.

The chef is known for his cookbooks, having released over 20 books of different styles of cooking and cuisines.

But admitting he has ‘never written a word’ of any of them, the TV personality wrote: ‘Here I am 46 years old, written 26 books apparently one of the most published authors on the planet ? No I’m not showing off I’m in as much shock as you are…but ive never ever physically written a word! 

‘I used to write my books on a Dictaphone then when I was eventually able to afford to employ an editor I would then dictate to them and that’s how I work it’s more complicated than that because I’m easily distracted and my working day has to be structured in a way that I’m kept invigorated and not allowed to get bored = fall asleep.’

‘But that’s within our gift to try and manage our time best for us to thrive and find what ever balance we are looking for right ?! when I show people around my office they often say what do all these people do? and I say they are really good at things I’m really bad at! and I’m bad at a lot of things…and this is all true.’

Jamie ended the long post by explaining his reasoning for opening up on the matter, explaining that ‘many of us are not brought up to embrace the currency of failure enough’.  

‘I believe that if our relationship around failure is managed properly, it is the key to a much happier, healthier future. If you personally struggle with anything, maybe look at it differently and take a different approach. 

‘Everyone struggles, everyone has a story that can be used to propel them forward or pull them back and i believe it’s how you choose to look at it that defines which path you take …you just need to find a way around it, do your thing and problem solve and please dream.’

Jamie has now healed his previously resentful relationship with his school days, concluding: ‘I will sign off by saying I no longer am resentful about school – quite the opposite, I think that our teachers and our schools are our secret weapon!!

‘I think it’s more than time for an education revolution especially in times like this! We need to propagate and take real care of the seedlings ~ of the future and that will fruit all that we dream and crave for our diminishing economy.’