Contributed by Copthorne Merry Hill-Dudley Chef de Partie Mr Dan Cornfield.

As Chef de Partie, Dan can typically be found in the kitchen, cooking up a storm with his colleagues and preparing delicious food to customers. In his spare time though, he is less likely to be serving dishes than serving up swift moves to take down his wrestling opponents. He shares with Hi Life about his hobby.

Hi, I’m Dan and I am a Chef de Partie at Copthorne Merry Hill-Dudley. While my main job is food related, I love wrestling. In my spare time, I perform under the name Carson Bailey for professional wrestling companies within the Midlands in central England.

Wrestling was something I started when I was 18, after finding a training school based in Dudley. I really enjoy it, and have been doing this now for 15 years. While it is very physically taxing, it has always been a form of therapy for me, as it is a massive release to perform in front of a crowd.

My most memorable match was a ‘casket match’, which also happened to be my last one before UK went into lockdown. The name is as it suggests – you have to put your opponent in a casket to win. I lost, but it was a really enjoyable fight as it was against RC Chaos, my best friend in wrestling. However, being claustrophobic myself, it certainly was not pleasant when he finally got me into the casket to win!

Over lockdown, I was not able to wrestle, and it felt like I was missing a part of myself. I’m glad restrictions have eased and I’m able to do this again!