Gordon Ramsay has revealed he turned down the chance to become a judge on ‘The Great British Bake Off’, because he didn’t want Mary Berry’s “sloppy seconds”.
The 82-year-old TV chef announced she was quitting the BBC baking show last year after it was poached by Channel 4.
It’s now been confirmed that she will be replaced by restaurateur and food critic Prue Leith, who will join original judge Paul Hollywood on the show.
But it could have been all very different if Gordon had taken up the offer to appear on the show.
He told The Telegraph: “They did ask me for Bake Off anyway. I’m not very good at sloppy seconds.
“I don’t want to be the male version of Mary Berry. I’m 30 years younger and more wrinkly than her anyway.”
Gordon, who is about to launch is new daytime cooking show ‘Culinary Genius’ on ITV, added that he wasn’t impressed that Love Productions, who produce ‘Bake Off’, sold the show to Channel 4.
He explained: “I think, as with Top Gear, we have an asset that is a crown jewel within a network: 14.5million viewers, there will never be another cookery show with that number ever again.
“For me Bake Off is like the Queen, it’s something to be respected, listened to and cared for – not sold off.”
When he’s not busy talking about Mary Berry’s sloppy seconds, Gordon has revealed what food he will never put in his mouth.
“There’s no fucking way I eat on planes,” the chef told Refinery29.
He explained: “I worked for airlines for years, so I know where food’s been and where it goes, and how long it took before it got on board.”
Instead, Gordon opts for a pre-flight meal so he doesn’t have to fiddle about with tiny knives and forks on the plane.
