Can't Cook, Won't Cook ''Can't Cook, Won't Cook'' is a British cooking game show that aired on BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for br ...

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Westminster Kingsway College Westminster Kingsway College is a large college for further education in central London with centres in King's Cross in Camden, together with Victoria and Soho centres in Westminster. Founded in 2000 and having origins dating back to 1910, the ...

commis chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

Hale and Pace Hale and Pace were an English comedy double-act that performed in clubs and on radio and television in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s. The duo was made up of Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, with the ''Hale and Pace'' television show r ...

Good Morning with Anne and Nick ''Good Morning with Anne and Nick'' is a British daytime television show presented by Anne Diamond and Nick Owen. Both the presenters had previously worked together at TV-am, ITV's breakfast franchise holder. The programme, which was broadcast ...

Can't Cook, Won't Cook ''Can't Cook, Won't Cook'' is a British cooking game show that aired on BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for br ...

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

GELF G.E.L.F. or GELF is an acronym for genetically engineered lifeform.Elyce Rae Helford "'OK, homeboys, let's posse!' Masculine anxiety, gender, race and class in ''Red Dwarf''" in John R. Cook, Peter Wright, (2006), ''British science fiction televisi ...

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...

Buena Vista Television Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,Ready.. Set... Cook!'', the US version of ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

''. Ainsley was guest chef on '' Something for the Weekend'' on 10 May 2009 and 21 February 2010 alongside guests

JLS JLS (an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing) are an English boyband, which consists of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill, originally formed by Williams. They initially signed to Tracklacers production company ...

. In February 2010, Harriott joined the morning show ''GMTV with Lorraine'' featuring cookery recipes. From 2002 until 2007, Harriott appeared in TV adverts for

Fairy Liquid Fairy is an international brand, primarily used for washing up liquid and dishwasher detergent, owned by the American multinational consumer products company, Procter & Gamble. The brand originated in the United Kingdom and is now used on a numbe ...

. In September 2008, Harriott took part in the genealogy documentary series '' Who Do You Think You Are?''. Harriott knew that his great-grandfather Ebenezer Harriott was in the colonial

West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...

, and had assumed that they were descended from slaves. In Barbados, he confirmed that his great-grandfather had a distinguished military career, and learnt that he had fought on the side of the British in the

Hut Tax War of 1898 The Hut Tax War of 1898 was a resistance in the newly annexed Protectorate of Sierra Leone to a new tax imposed by the colonial governor. The British had established the Protectorate to demonstrate their dominion over the territory to other Europ ...

– an increasingly violent series of protests against systems of taxation in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

. Although Harriott had assumed that his great-great-grandfather, James Gordon Harriott, was a black slave, he was revealed to be the descendant of a long line of white slaveowners. Harriott appeared in the final ''

My Family ''My Family'' is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadc ...

'' Christmas special in 2010 "Mary Christmas". On 11 August 2015, he was announced as the second contestant of the thirteenth series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

''. On 5 September 2015 it was revealed Harriott was paired with professional dancer

Natalie Lowe Natalie Lowe (born 15 August 1980) is an Australian ballroom dancer. She is a four-time Australian ballroom dance champion. Lowe competed on, and won, Australia's ''Dancing with the Stars'' with celebrity partner Anthony Koutoufides''.'' She l ...

for the thirteenth series. He was the fourth contestant to be voted off and finished twelfth. Harriott was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to broadcasting and the culinary arts.

Writing

Harriott is a best-selling author, publishing twelve books as well as numerous others in conjunction with his television shows. Including foreign-language translations, he has sold over 2 million books worldwide.

Other work

Harriott was the President of the

Television and Radio Industries Club The Television and Radio Industries Club (widely known as TRIC) is a British institution chartered in 1931 to "promote goodwill in the television and radio industries". The Club holds an annual awards ceremony each March honouring achievement in te ...

(TRIC) 2004–05 and presented their awards ceremony that year. He markets his own range of food, including couscous, risotto, soups and cereal bars. Harriott played the role of the Narrator in ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple ...

'' at the New Theatre, Cardiff in March 2010, at the

Churchill Theatre The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, southeast London was built by the London Borough of Bromley to designs by its borough architect's department. The Churchill is an example of a repertory theatre built in the style of European opera houses, wit ...

,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

in October 2010, and again at the

Richmond Theatre The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian era, Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of ''As You Like ...

in November 2010. He made a guest appearance in the BBC radio comedy series '' Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off'' as himself in 2006. On 23 May 2022 Harriot saved his elder sister Jacqueline from drowning, after she fell head-first into a narrow water feature in the BBC Studios exhibition garden, at the

Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...

. She was dragged to safety by a group of people including ''

DIY SOS "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, wikt:modification, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individual ...

'' presenter

Nick Knowles Nicholas Simon Augustine Knowles (born 21 September 1962) is an English television presenter, writer and musical artist. He is best known for his presenting roles on the BBC, including game shows ''Who Dares Wins'' (2007–2019), ''Break the Saf ...

.

Personal life

Harriott married former costume designer Clare Fellows, the youngest sister of comedian and actor

Graham Fellows Graham David Fellows (born 22 May 1959) is an English actor and musician, best known for releasing the 1978 single "Jilted John", which reached #4 on the UK Singles Chart, and creating the comedic character John Shuttleworth in 1986. Jilted ...

. They have two children. In November 2012, the couple were reported to have separated and they remain on good terms. Harriott is a supporter of Arsenal F.C.

Filmography

Bibliography

* 1999 ''Ainsley Harriott's Meals In Minutes'' (') * 2000 ''Ainsley Harriott's Barbecue Bible'' (') * 2002 ''Ainsley Harriott's Low-fat Meals In Minutes'' (') * 2002 ''Ainsley Harriott's Gourmet Express'' (') * 2003 ''Ainsley Harriott's All New Meals In Minutes'' (') * 2003 ''Ainsley Harriott's Gourmet Express 2'' (') * 2003 ''The Top 100 Recipes from Ready Steady Cook'' (') * 2004 ''Ainsley Harriott's Friends and Family Cookbook'' (') * 2005 ''Ainsley's Ultimate Barbecue Bible'' (') * 2006 ''Ainsley Harriott's All New Meals In Minutes'' (') * 2006 ''Ainsley Harriott's Feel Good Cookbook'' (') * 2008 ''Ainsley Harriott's Fresh and Fabulous Meals in Minutes'' (') *2009 ''Just Five Ingredients ()'' * 2011 ''My Kitchen Table: 100 Meals in Minutes'' (') *2012 ''My Kitchen Table: 100 Great Chicken Recipes ('') *2019 ''Ainsley's Caribbean Kitchen ('') *2020 ''Ainsley’s Mediterranean Cookbook ('') *2021 ''Ainsley’s Good Mood Food ('')

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harriott, Ainsley 1957 births Living people Black British television personalities English chefs English game show hosts English people of Jamaican descent English television chefs English television presenters English writers Internet memes Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Paddington Television people from London

Early life

Career

Television work

Writing

Other work

Personal life

Filmography

Bibliography

References

External links