It's Ramsay's kitchen nightmare as Marco Pierre White gets rival show

By Arifa Akbar

Published: 21 February 2007

As Gordon Ramsay's mentor, he is reputed to have reduced the tough-talking chef to tears - before Ramsay went on to adopt a similarly combative persona for the reality television series, Hell's Kitchen.

Now, Marco Pierre White is taking over as the presenter of the ITV show, and he has kicked off proceedings with a barrage of insults angled at fellow chefs, including Ramsay.

Shortly after he was named as the programme's new star, White fired a broadside at Jamie Oliver, dismissing his school dinners campaign as a "cynical" publicity stunt which had failed to improve children's food. He also re-ignited a simmering feud with Ramsay and belittled celebrity chefs who put their names to exclusive restaurants but apparently never cooked there.

Ramsay, who presented the first series of Hell's Kitchen and is host of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on Channel 4, learned his trade with White and both cooks' restaurants have been awarded the maximum three Michelin stars.

Speaking of his one-time student, White confirmed their friendship had become strained in recent times.

"If someone doesn't enrich my life, I don't want them to be part of my life. He has nothing to contribute to it," he said.

As the presenter of Hell's Kitchen, to be broadcast later this year, White will follow the format of putting 10 celebrities from different walks of life through their paces in his kitchen.

His swipe at Oliver's show, Jamie's School Dinners, will come as a surprise to many who regard the chef's campaign to ban junk food from schools as successful.

Following Oliver's series, the Government pledged an extra £280m for school meals. But that was not enough to impress White, who said: "I don't actually admire him. I like Jamie. But I think when you walk down Downing Street to No 10 with a camera crew at the gates, it's a bit cynical.

"My kids are at school and nothing has changed. As long as the same companies are controlling school kitchens, nothing is going to change. It's very easy to highlight something. But if you're going to stand up for a principle, you have to keep on going back and keep on working at it."

Oliver delivered a petition with more than 270,000 signatures for his "Feed Me Better" campaign to the Prime Minister at Downing Street.

In spite of his outspoken comments against his competitors, White said he would adopt a nurturing role in Hell's Kitchen.

"I'll be very honest, I don't like the way my industry has been portrayed by certain people on TV. Young boys or girls should be inspired to go into the industry, not feel pushed out. This industry is like the Foreign Legion - it accepts everybody. A kitchen is a special place.

"My approach on Hell's Kitchen will be about inspiring people and helping them, not belittling them and putting them down. When people talk about Hell's Kitchen, one thing they never talk about is the food. One of the aspects of what we are going to do is to teach people how to cook."

White said he would cultivate a different presenting style from Ramsay.

"I'm not here to follow in someone else's footsteps. I never have and never will. I'm here to do a job, and that is to feed 70 people every night and train 10 celebrities," he said.

Richard Cowles, ITV's head of factual entertainment, said he anticipated a "fiery" performance from White. "Marco's fiery passion still burns bright - I suspect that time hasn't mellowed him," he said.

The last series starred Gary Rhodes and Jean-Christophe Novelli.

Fighting talk from MPW

On Gordon Ramsay:

Has referred to him as "the monster Ramsay" and added: "The last words I ever said to him were: 'Has somebody stolen the bolts out of your neck, Gordon?'"

On other chefs:

"These days, a chef's burning ambition is to become a TV star rather than win three stars from Michelin."

On Albert Roux:

"Disloyal and put the knife in my back."

On Ainsley Harriott, Gary Rhodes and Antony Worrall Thompson appearing in a commercial for washing-up liquid:

"I thought, 'Is this what it has come to?'"