Ainsley Denzil Dubriel Harriott (born 28 February 1957) is an English chef and television presenter. He is known for his BBC cooking game shows '' Can't Cook, Won't Cook'' and '' Ready Steady Cook''.

Early life

Harriott was born in

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 Padd ...

, London, to Peppy (

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 ...

Strudwick) and pianist and singer, Chester Leroy Harriott (1933–2013).Van Wilmer
"Chester Harriott obituary"
''The Guardian'', 15 July 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2017. He has Jamaican heritage. Harriott attended

Wandsworth Comprehensive School Wandsworth School was a local authority maintained boys' secondary school in Southfields, London. Established in 1895, it became a selective grammar school, then an all-ability comprehensive school, before merging in 1986 and finally closing ...

then trained at

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 ...

(formerly Westminster Technical College), and obtained an apprenticeship at Verrey's restaurant in London's West End, later working as a

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 kitch ...

Career

Harriott's talents lie in comedy and singing as well as cooking. He formed the Calypso Twins with school friend Paul Boross, releasing a hit record in the early 1990s, "World Party". The Calypso Twins were regular performers at the Comedy Store and Jongleurs; they also performed in America and on TV and radio shows. Harriott became head chef at the Long Room of Lord's Cricket Ground. He was asked to present ''More Nosh, Less Dosh'' on

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 Broadcasting of sports events, covering sport in ...

, and also has appeared as an extra in Hale and Pace.

Television work

Harriott became the resident chef on '' Good Morning with Anne and Nick'' and later the main presenter of '' Can't Cook, Won't Cook'' and '' Ready Steady Cook'', both shows involving members of the public. He has presented more straightforward how-to-cook programmes such as ''Ainsley's Barbecue Bible'', ''Ainsley's Meals in Minutes'', ''Ainsley's Big Cook Out'' and ''Ainsley's Gourmet Express.'' Harriott played the part of a

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 bo ...

in the sci-fi comedy series ''

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. ...

'' in 1993. In 1998, for the show's 10th anniversary, Harriott presented a special edition of ''Can't Cook, Won't Cook'' called '' Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg'' with the cast of the show cooking a meal while remaining in character. In 2000, Harriott made his debut on US television with The Ainsley Harriott Show, syndicated by

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

. 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 j ...

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

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 theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...

'' 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, c ...

in October 2010, and again at the Richmond Theatre 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'' presenter Nick Knowles.

Personal life

Harriott married former costume designer Clare Fellows, the youngest sister of comedian and actor Graham Fellows. 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. Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (inclu ...

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