Michael Jackson’s pet chimpanzee Bubbles loved helping out in the kitchen.
The iconic musician – who died of cardiac arrest, aged 50, in 2009 – bought Bubbles from a Texas research facility in the 80s and he was always happy to assist the Jacksons in the kitchen.
La Toya Jackson, Michael’s sister – who is set to star on season 13 of ‘Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition’ – recalled: "He was just adorable trying to help the chefs in the kitchen cook. My mother was always against that, but there’s nothing you could do about it when the chefs are saying, ‘Bubbles, go get the plate over there! Go get the knife!’ And he’s trying to stir the pot and my mother goes, ‘Do not let that animal stir the food!’"
La Toya, 61, explained that she spent so much time around Bubbles during that period of time, he eventually felt like part of their family.
Speaking to Us Weekly magazine, La Toya shared: "Bubbles was like one of us. That’s how we treated him. We didn’t know any differently."
La Toya also revealed Michael’s go-to snack in the kitchen.
She said: "[Michael] just loved vegetables. He didn’t eat meat, so he would have vegetables constantly and they’re done differently. And then, of course, his go-to snack food was always chips."
By contrast, Janet Jackson was much less fussy about what she’d eat.
La Toya said: "Janet would eat anything. Actually, she was so cute as a kid. When she was in kindergarten, she would come home from school, pull her whole little stool up to the oven, put a steak in, go watch cartoons.
"As soon as the cartoon goes off, she knows the steak is ready. We used to get the biggest kick out of it, laughing. She would go to the oven and pull it out and eat it and then go back and sit down and watch her little cartoons."