Ainsley Harriott

Ainsley Harriott is one of television’s most exciting celebrity chefs. Over a ten year period he has appeared in fourteen series of Ready Steady Cook. The programme has since aired on tv channels around the world. With eight cooking series under his belt, he has become the master of fresh, fun, accessible cuisine. Ainsley’s food reflects the needs of real life. It is diverse and delicious but easy to prepare and speedy to cook.

Since Ainsley’s first appearance as the resident chef in 1992 on ITV’s Good Morning with Anne Diamond and Nick Owen, he’s been on TV every year since. In 1995 he was a presenter for 5 years on BBC’s Can’t Cook Won’t Cook. More recent shows include Ainsley’s Taste of Malta in 2024, plus he also won The Masked Singer Christmas Special in 2023.

Early Days:

Aged 16, Ainsley trained at Westminster College and embarked on a career in London’s top hotels and restaurants. He started out as a junior trainee at West End restaurant Verreys, where he graduated to commis chef before moving to The Strand Palace as Chef Tournant. He also started his own catering company. It was an exciting period, says Ainsley. One day Id be creating posh nosh for Elton John the next Id be making steak and kidney pud for Princess Margaret.

“I’ve worked at every level of the catering business – and I think that its an enormous advantage to know how to make delicious beans on toast as well as Lobster Thermidor.” With over twenty years experience working in professional kitchens, Ainsley has a very wide understanding of his craft. Hotels and restaurants include The Dorchester, Browns, The Hilton, The Westbury, New Bond Street, Caf Peilican and Quaglinos.

In the early 1990s Ainsley Harriott worked as Head Chef of the Long Room at Lords Cricket Ground. It was during one cricket season that BBC Radio asked him to present More Nosh, Less Dosh for BBC Radio 5. A call from BBC Pebble Mill soon followed and Ainsley moved in to become resident chef on BBC tv’s Good Morning With Anne And Nick. This in turn led to Ready Steady Cook and his tv career took off.

Ready Steady Cook:

Ready Steady Cook started airing in 1994. Fourteen series and well over a thousand episodes later, it celebrated ten happy years in 2004. When he became series host in 2000, the show gained a new lease of life and extra viewers. Over the years it has featured numerous guests. These have included, Nick Nairn, Ross Burden, Antony Worrall Thompson, Brian Turner and Kevin Woodford. Also featured were, Silvana Franco, James Martin and Lesley Waters to name but a few.

Ainsley Harriott is on Twitter (X) and Instagram where he has over 150,000 followers.