Hi everyone

Phew, you loved it! The premiere episode of the new season of Come Dine with Me South Africa aired on Monday on BBC Entertainment and the response from you, the viewers, has been overwhelming!

Over 160,000 of you tuned in to watch the culinary capers of Simphiwe, Anne-Marie, Manny and Jo-Anne and this delivered a 64% ratings increase for BBC Entertainment amongst DSTV individuals (4+) (Compared to the previous two month timeslot average).

The return of the show also sparked massive social media conversation with Twitter going wild from the moment the show started. Our hashtag #ComeDineSA even became the top trending topic in South Africa. From Simphiwe’s liberal use of champagne to Manny’s zebra print cushions, you took to the social networks to share the love. I’ve included a few of my favourite comments below....

@BBCEnt_SA So far so HILARIOUS:) You couldn't find a more diverse bunch if you tried:)

My mom and I are literally snorting to death with laughter at #ComeDineSA. #androgynous

Absolutely loving #ComeDineSA some legendary characters already

The hot topics of the night were Manny’s cushions and Jo-Anne's belief in fairies ...

Zebra print scatter cushions?!?! Manny! Marry me!!!! #ComeDineSA

#ComeDineSA dyyinnnggg at Anna-Marie's reactions to the fairy things...

Then, lo and behold, a star was born: Simphiwe the gloriously self-styled black Marie Antoinette contestant set the twitterati alight. During the programme he had to be the most talked about person in South Africa as every quote and faux-pas was seized upon!

What is a lamb called when it's small? A lamb. Wompwompwomp! Simphiwe is killing me! #comedineSA

Wow!!! Simphiwe- never seen such a disastrous meal in my life!! Butter all over the peppers!!! Bwahahaha #ComeDineSA laughing hysterically

We also heard from the great man and narrator himself, Dave Lamb, who tweeted: ‘It looks like Come Dine SA starts tonight. Good ruddy luck, studio!’ and in response to your comments he tweeted: ‘Thanks for all your tweets from South Africa. Glad you like it!! Sorry for my appalling pronunciation!

In total the premiere episode garnered over 2,000 tweets, an increase of 366% compared to episode one from the first season and I must say we are absolutely delighted with your fantastic response. Please do keep the comments coming and be sure to join in the conversation on Twitter and Facebook where you can see sneak peeks of upcoming episodes. Your feedback is so important to us and we really want to know what you think – let’s see if we can get the show trending for the second week running!

I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with some really exciting news to share with you all but before I sign off let me just say this - if you thought episode one was good, then just wait till you see episode two. Tears, tantrums, tactics, you name it, we’ve got it. Hungry for drama? Then don’t miss episode two on Monday at 8pm on BBC Entertainment, DSTV, Channel 120.