Antony Worrall Thompson
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| Antony Worrall Thompson | |
 Antony Worrall Thompson in November 2006
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| Born | Henry Antony Cardew Worrall Thompson May 1, 1951 Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England |
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| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | celebrity chef, television presenter and radio broadcaster. |
Henry Antony Cardew Worrall Thompson (born 1 May 1951) is a British celebrity chef, television presenter and radio broadcaster.
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[edit] Early life
Thompson was born in Stratford upon Avon, he was educated at The King's School, Canterbury where his face was injured playing rugby and he had to wait until he was 21 before he could have plastic surgery to correct the disfigurement.[1] After he left school he studied hotel management at Westminster College.
[edit] Career
Worrall Thompson opened his first restaurant - Ménage à Trois - in Knightsbridge in 1981. Since then he has launched several successful restaurants, including Wiz and Woz in West London and Metro in Jersey — all of which reflect his somewhat individual approach to food.
He was a cook on BBC2’s Food and Drink, appeared on Ready Steady Cook from 1994, and has presented a number of other cookery programmes. In 2003, he appeared in the second series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.
From 2003 (when he replaced original host Gregg Wallace) until June 2006, he was the host of BBC2's Saturday Kitchen, which had transferred to BBC1 to replace Saturday morning children's television. However, after a large financial offer from ITV[citation needed], Worrall Thompson and the production company responsible for the show, Prospect Pictures transferred the format - including Australian wine expert Matt Skinner - to ITV. The new show currently airs as Daily Cooks Challenge during the week and Saturday Cooks on Saturdays, with spin-off shows also being made, such as a Christmas Cooks show during December.
Until late 2006, he was Catering Director for Old Luxters Barn, in Buckinghamshire. He has not publicly discussed his reasons for pulling out.
Since the move to ITV, Thompson has ceased to appear as a guest chef on Ready, Steady, Cook. The BBC outsourced the now vacant Saturday Kitchen format to a new company and the show started with James Martin presenting just three weeks after Worrall Thompson started his ITV version.
Worrall Thompson recently represented the Midlands and East of England in the BBC's Great British Menu but was beaten by Galton Blackiston.[1], after burning the meat course of his entry prior to the judging phase.
Worrall Thompson is a patron of FOREST, a UK-based pro-smoking lobby, and is also involved in fundraising for the Conservative Party.
[edit] Criticism
Worrall Thompson's recipe for Snickers Pie was nominated by independent food watchdog The Food Commission as one of the most unhealthy dessert recipes ever. Consisting of five Snickers bars, puff pastry, mascarpone, soft cheese, sugar and eggs, a single slice has been estimated to contain 1,250 calories. Although this was widely reported in the British media, the BBC still hosts the recipe on its website, albeit with a health warning.
In 2005, as he launched his new series, Gordon Ramsay commented on the phenomenon of "Celebrity Chefs" saying, "I don't really think I'm a celebrity chef. There's a TV bracket and a serious chef bracket." He went on to dub Ainsley Harriot, Brian Turner and Worrall Thompson as the Teletubbies [2].
[edit] References
- ^ The real naked chef. Observer Food Monthly. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
