I don't envy young Brits crossing the Atlantic to make their fortunes today.

It's very different doing a food show in America and doing one in Britain. I did a 20-part series for the BBC series called 'Eating With the Enemy.' The budget for all 20 episodes was probably the budget for a single episode of 'Top Chef.' It's the difference between making a home movie in your backyard and going to Hollywood.

America thinks of itself as a meritocracy, so people have more respect for success and more contempt for failure.

I don't envy young Brits crossing the Atlantic to make their fortunes today.

I've become a professional failure - in order to pay the mortgage I have to remain unemployed. Luckily, a disaster always seems to befall me at exactly the right moment.

Top Chef is a very smooth-running machine. All the people working there are incredibly professional and absolutely at the top of their game.

Oddly, I do have a problem with authority. I find it very difficult to knuckle down and follow rules. Which are the classic symptoms of someone who has a troubled relationship with their father. And yet, I never had a problem with my father.