My childhood favourite is mum's shepherd's pie, Yorkshire pudding and roasted potatoes. I remember coming home from school and going to the kitchen to help her. It's because of her that I discovered my love for cooking.

Stop taking things personally. Throughout the time with "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Hotel Hell," when they work, you don't get any praise. When they fail, you get blamed. You're f - ed either way, but it doesn't stop me doing them, I think.

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 grew up in a funny way.

We are about creating a new wave of talent. We are the Manchester United of kitchens now. Am I playing full-time in the kitchen? I am a player-coach.

The thing is, I can teach. I can teach bloody well. So few chefs have that level of generosity. I demand a lot, a f***ing hell of a lot, but I give a lot back.

No one saw the recession coming. The UK businesses were solid as a rock, but the issues we had were in Paris, New York and LA. For every pound we were making here we were losing two pounds abroad.