- Oh my goodness me, wow.
- So, I mean, we've met in person before.
- Yes.
- At like an event randomly,
but it's your first time on this show,
and like for, in person.
You've been like via Zoom.
- Zoom. Eh, First of all congra-
- This is what we look like in person.
- You look ama- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- On all the success.
- Thank you.
- I'll tell you why.
Trying to get through to my mum last week
on the phone, she said, I'm not picking up.
I said, why?
She said, well, Kelly's on.
You're now on mainstream, UK TV.
- Oh, my Gosh!
Take your presence over. It's great.
- Oh that's, that's amazing.
I love that I've impressed your mom.
She, like, doesn't take your calls for me. I love it.
Um, So is your mom kind of a big reason
why you became a chef?
- Really good question. So she was a cook.
She had two jobs growing up.
Mum was a nurse at night,
during the day she was this amazing
cook in a little restaurant in Stratford-Avon,
- That sounds like an exhausting schedule.
- It was crazy.
And it was called the Cobweb Tea house,
which doesn't sound very appetizing, does it.
Cobweb.
- It sounds amazing and magical.
(laughing)
- It was, it was good.
And she was an amazing cook.
And what she didn't sell in the restaurant,
she brought home, we ate.
And in those days, honestly,
it was almost like rude to leave anything on that plate.
Otherwise, ya know, mom would be upset.
So we were sort of, were very gracious and just, yeah.
Humble.
- Yeah. I remember we had to sit at the table like, mom,
they'd be like, yeah, you're going to sit there.
You're gonna at least try it.
- That's right. And you know, you cleared up automatically.
You didn't load the dishwasher.
- Well, first of all, and when you're like poor,
you're like cool, whatever it is, like I need food.
So you're like, I was just like, whatever.
- We were hungry before dinner, not fussy.
So that made it so much more important. I think.
- Cobweb Teahouse
- Yeah, I know.
- Write that book. I'd read it.
It, it sounds good.
- Secretly, it was a (beep).
- Okay!
- Those are my favorite places to go, though.
Those are always like the best kind of,
you find the best things in those dive places. Anyway, okay.
- All the tables were rocking over,
- Yeah, oh I love those!
- Bits and bobs hanging out,
Stuart Little in the kitchen. It was a mess.
- Stuart Little! (laughing)
- Do you, do you still cook and clean?
Like, whenever you're cooking,
or do you make somebody else clean?
- [Gordon] Oh no, I clean.
- You do?
- I, eh, or I try.
- Are you anal? Is that why?
- I, I am, I am sort of, I'm a mess.
- Oh.
- but I got to focus on the plat-
- Well, welcome! (laughter)
I'm a mess. (laughter)
- So, I love that kind of madness before dinner.
- Yeah.
- And I like that kind of sort of,
you know, chaotic ness, because it's
all about that end product.
What you got gonna put on the plate,
how long is it going to be.
And, with three daughters,
man they, they're, they're on it.
- So wait, do you, you do that?
You, you do like, you plate it
and everything for your family?
- Being a chef at home is like running a hotel restaurant
where no one goes home. They all stay there, breakfast,
lunch, and dinner.
That's the problem.
- Oh my gosh. That must be hard.
Cause kids are hard to please, even if you're you.
- Man, especially with three daughters.
- Yeah. I just feel like some are like texture issues.
They're like, no, I only eat beige.
Like it's like.
- That's right.
Dad, tonight I'm a vegan,
tomorrow I'm a vegetarian.
- And then what are you going to be tomorrow?
(beep) knows. (Laughter)
They have no idea what they're going to be.
It's how they wake up in the morning.
It's like, really?
I was never that difficult at their age.
- Oh my God. Welcome to my house.
I'm like, it's this or you starve.
I'm like we had a chef make it.
I'm like if unhappy with your chicken noodle soup,
you can go make some oatmeal.
Well, let's talk about, let's talk about family.
I think that you have a traitor in the house,
Cause I love this.
Watch this, everybody.
This is pretty good.
- [Woman Off Camera] Who's the best chef in the world?
- Is it mama, mama or dada?
- Mama.
(Laughter)
- I love that! That's amazing.
- What does she make? Or did she bribe him?
- Man, I think she's bribing him.
- She gave him the sucker?
- Exactly, that.
- We're into lots of soups now.
And as you know, even with the kids,
they eat with their eyes, so you've gotta be smart.
So she did a sort of butternut squash puree.
Then turned that into a soup. And it's like now, you know,
he's sort of hooked on her cooking,
which is a bit of a kick in the balls.
He doesn't quite know how good he's dad is yet
- Because I can't season anything,
because, you know, for two year olds. So,
- That's gotta make her feel amazing though.
- I'll get him back.
- So tell us about Next Level Chef.
- Next Level Chef is a really exciting idea
we spent the last two years developing.
And so, it's these three
- I love that it's actual levels.
- Yeah, that's right. Three amazing platforms.
You've got the basement, sort of mid-sized kitchen.
And then in the top, you got this incredible,
you know, unique, fine dining,
but in the middle of all these kitchens,
you've got these platform with these amazing ingredients
and it travels down.
So, starts off at the top with the unique ingredients,
second, and then when you get into the basement,
which we all know is somewhat dull and,
you know, a little bit dreary,
but, it's incredible.
- Yeah.
- Because, for the first time ever,
we've put in professional chefs, social media chefs,
and amateur cooks into the same arena. So fireworks.
- That's exciting.
- Yeah, it's really cool.
- Yeah. And you never know who's going to come out on top.
Like, an amateur could totally win it.
- No, exactly that,
but also, just cooking in the basement
with limited ingredients.
That's where you really try to,
sort of, find out a lot about yourself.
No flashy ingredients, all the best bits have gone,
all the best veg have gone, no fresh herbs.
And all of a sudden you've got canned chickpeas, you know,
a tuna collar. What would you do with that?
- I would, I would go, I would fast. (laughter)
I would fast.
I can't cook.
I would try my best, and saute something.
As long as I have, I feel like, garlic,
I can make things work, and salt.
I like garlic and salt. And I'm like,
as long as I have that.
- But even the scrambled eggs,
I'm sure you must be great at
- No, I can make, I can make certain things, but like,
I'm not like a cook. I would never, ever,
ever in any world say that.
- Could you cook a nice piece of fish? Skin side down?
- Yeah, I actually can.
Somebody told me to do that and you sear it really quickly
and then you bake it for a little. Yeah.
- Yeah. Well, you don't really have,
- I sear both sides and then I bake it,
just for like six minutes.
- Right.
- But if you sear it properly you wouldn't have to bake it.
- I know, but see,
I'm not a chef (laughter)
and I don't want to get sick.
So mama makes sure that it's fully cooked.
- Gotcha.
- What are the worst conditions,
speaking of the basement level,
Like, what are the worst conditions
you've ever had to cook in?
- I lived in Paris for three years, uh, training.
- That's your worst conditions? Paris? (laughter)
- It sounds very glamorous. I promise it wasn't.
It was, it was tough.
And also as a, as a, as a Brit, in Paris,
you know, getting your ass kicked
in some of the best kitchens anywhere on the planet,
because they never really took our food serious out there.
- Oh, really?
- No. I mean, they do now, but back when I was there.
So, I've worked in some very dingy basements where,
you just got to put food in a lift and to this day,
I've never seen anything appetizing coming out of a lift.
I'm not very good when food goes in a lift.
The kind of (bleep) goes in there beforehand.
And then the pot washer will load up all these dirty plates
and there'll be crap all over the wall,
and then your putting somebody's food in the lift.
I don't want to eat out of a lift.
- Yeah, that doesn't sound appetizing.
- No.
You probably made it work though, that's why your here.
So I hear that you, you tried to teach Snoop how to cook.
Is that right?
- He was a guest on one of our shows once. I mean,
he's an amazing man, by the way.
- I've worked with him on set before.
So I know what the issue was.
- You just gotta, you gotta be a bit patient
and give him bit more time than everybody else.
We were live as well, so.
- You were live!
Ours was at least taped, you can edit it down.
It's amazing.
- It was hard. But yeah, that show with him
- But you know what? He probably loved everything.
He was like this is the most amazing onion
I've ever had.
- You're absolutely right. He's a great guy.
- I love him. It was so fun on The Voice,
So wait, who is the first famous person
that you remember eating your food,
that you were excited about?
- I had this amazing little restaurant,
the (indistinct) in Chelsea,
and my restaurant manager came
down to the basement to say (speaking french)
I said, table two, what's wrong, Jean-Claude?
He said, there's an amazing lady there.
I said, yeah, but who is he?
He couldn't get his words out.
So anyway, I went running upstairs.
As you do, to sort of say, hello.
And it was Lady Di.
- Oh, wow.
- It was just this amazing moment,
sort of meeting such a wonderful lady.
And she was asking me about the specials and how she wanted
to, you know, eat properly and have a dessert.
Give me time in between courses.
And it just this incredible six minutes
at the table that you never forget.
- Wow.
- See, I'm different.
Like if I'm at a show, doing a show,
I never want to know if people are there,
because it makes me nervous. So you, you,
does it, does it make you nervous
to find out they're there?
- I mean, this place is fully booked
for three months in advance. And so,
- Oh, so you know everyone's, oh.
- Everyone's special, as you know, but it was just,
it was just that moment where you think, God, this
- Everyone's not as special as Lady Di.
- And she was so gracious, so gracious.
- That's cool.
- As a 27 year old, as a cook, you just think,
wow, this lady is amazing. So, really cool.
- I would've been terrified. We're so different.
So, who has been the most intimidating person that you've
ever cooked for?
- Oh God.
I remember being invited round to Downing Street once to
cook for Mr. Blair, Tony Blair and President Putin.
- Oh, wow.
- Yeah, then I genuinely did (bleep) myself thinking,
(bleep), can you imagine if your food poison
these two (bleep).
- Oh, my God! See? See? (laughter)
- Can you imagine the kind of (bleep) I would get,
- Took these Presidents down.
- Or you'd die!
- And then finished for them, and you'd
have to go upstairs for the first ladies,
and cook the same thing in this tiny little flat.
You have to take your own pots and pans.
So you'd be on Downing Street,
you'd expect a kitchen that was set with like, you know,
a proper kitchen, et cetera.
But we were like loading in pots and pans.
- They know you're not like, a masseur, right?
You don't show up with your table.
- Exactly that.
- So that was quite an extraordinary experience.
And then you're sort of standing in between them,
to say hello, and you know,
they're asking you about the English picked asparagus.
You're thinking, get me the (bleep) out of here.
- Like, I want to leave now. Clicking your heels.
- I'm done.
- Oh my God. That would have been, yeah, that one was worse.
Well, speaking of intimidation, you re posted this video
someone made. It's an impression of you,
meeting your daughter's boyfriend.
- Oh, you're my daughter's date? Oh, (bleep.)
Oh, wow. Could you excuse me for just one moment?
Thank you, sir.
Well, (bleep). One thing I can tell you,
is that Tilly should've gone to (bleep) Specsavers,
because that boy's got a face like a dog's ass.
(Laughter)
- Like how, how accurate is that?
- That is 100% Accurate.
- I love that you re posted it.
- Yeah. I'm sort of naughty sometimes.
I mean, listen, I just want the girls to be
looked after and then to look after each other.
So you're always anxious about that.
And I did something really bad last week.
Megan started seeing her ex boyfriend again,
and his name is Byron.
He was okay to begin with a little bit wet, you know,
a little bit sort of, you want,
you want a man to date your daughter.
And he was just a little bit pathetic.
(Laughter)
- I love you so much!
Byron is peeing his pants somewhere.
- I'm going to kill the little (bleep).
I kid you not. I found out his telephone number
from our youngest daughter, Tilly.
So she gave me, said, dad don't do anything.
I said no, no, just give me the number. If things
end wrong, I need his number on my phone.
So I waited to find out when they're having dinner together
and I Face Timed him.
- Did your daughter kill you?
- Well, he sort of answered the phone.
This thing was shaking. I said, Byron!
It's me, not your future Father-in-law,
you little (bleep)
(laughter)
- Oh my God, did your daughter kill you?
- And Megan lent over and pushed and, and cut me off.
Which, it was so rude. I was just in the middle of having
- She's rude?
(laughter)
- Your perspective is a beautiful thing.
- So yeah, it's hard, right? It's hard.
- And you know dudes. So you're like, Nope.
- Yeah, and also, you just want the best,
but there's, you know, 22 is like, no,
just wait a little bit longer. But.
- Yeah. I say 30 is a good age to start.
Well, everybody be sure to watch Next Level Chef,
Wednesdays on Fox. Also don't date Gordon's daughter.