Chefs don't do ponytails and we shouldn't do them because I guarantee that whenever there's a discovery of hair in the food, it's guaranteed it's from the chef's ponytail.

Being on a soccer pitch is not the same as being in a kitchen when things are going wrong.

It's quite weird knocking that out of them and telling them to forget cooking for chefs; forget what chefs say about your food.

I am happy for them all: Angela Hartnett, Jason Atherton, Marcus Wareing, Mark Sargeant.

First of all, for me the secret is in the ingredients. You don't need to start spending fortunes on organic foods and start becoming way over budget. The better the ingredient, the littler that needs doing to it.

The minute you start compromising for the sake of massaging somebody's ego, that's it, game over.

[I spend a] lot [time travelling]. Between the restaurants, filming for TV, producing MasterChef, seeing the kids... it's pretty constant.