Antony Worrall Thompson life and biography

Henry Antony Cardew Worrall Thompson is a British celebrity chef, television presenter and radio broadcaster.

In 1998 Antony became resident studio chef and main presenter for BBC2's Food & Drink programme. He is a Ready Steady Cook regular and also appears on the amazingly popular Celebrity Ready Steady Cook. He also took part in the incredibly successful 1999 Ready Steady Cook Roadshow playing to packed theatres across the UK. He filmed several of his own series for Carlton Food Network: a 78 part series called Worrall Thompson Cooks, followed by a 26 part series Simply Antony, Antony's Scotland (13 parts), So You Think You Can't Cook, filmed at the 1997 BBC Good Food Show, a five part series called Retrospectives which looked at dinner party food since the 1950s, Antony's Morocco on location in Morocco, and More Simply Antony.

His final series for Carlton Food Network was Master and Servant with James Martin. Antony regularly guests-presents and cooks on Good Food Live (UK Food Channel), and since mid 2003 has been the presenter of Saturday Kitchen. This weekly BBC 2 live cookery programme, due to its increasing share of the audience, was transfered to BBC1 during summer 2004 renamed Saturday Brunch and the programme saw Antony reunited with his Food & Drink colleague Oz Clarke. In June 2004 the UK Food Channel broadcast a series of 10 half-hour programmes called simply Worrall Thompson, an entertaining mix of food programme and fly on the wall documentary.

He has guested on many programmes, including ITV's This Morning, GMTV, Hot Chefs, MasterChef, Junior MasterChef, Home Front, Channel 4's Light Lunch and Quisine as well as Have I Got News For You, Question Time, Richard and Judy, Shooting Stars, TFI Friday, The Clothes Show, Live and Kicking, The Kumars at No. 42, Bookworm, Heaven and Earth, Pet Rehab, Through the Keyhole, Going Going Gone, Celebrities Under Pressure, Freddie Star's Christmas Special, Country File, Nation's Favourite Food, Newsnight and Children In Need specials. He has also fronted a 30 minute programme for Channel 4, Stir Fry, looking at the quality of food in prisons. He was a team captain on BBC Radio 4's Question of Taste with wine expert Oz Clarke. He has guested on Radio 4's 'Broadcasting House' and regularly reviews the papers on LBC.

Antony was the winner of The Weakest Link Chef Special and appeared on Panorama presenting an item on the Fairtrade issue on behalf of the 2003 Comic Relief project. He is increasingly in demand by broadcasters to comment on and discuss serious food issues such as diabetes, obesity, nutrition and the eating habits of children.

He is passionate about organic farming and grows many herbs and vegetables for his restaurant. Despite such an energetic professional lifestyle, he still manages to find time for art, antiques, tennis and swimming (he swam the Channel when he was sixteen), gardening and of course his wife Jay and their two young children, plus two dogs called Trevor and Jess, two cats, twelve pigs and a variety of fish and chickens who all live at his country cottage retreat by the banks of the Thames. Antony has recently bought a fertile avocado farm in Spain where he and his family retreat to when they can find time.

In February 2010, Worral Thompson was awarded only one star out of five after a food hygiene inspection at his gastro-pub, The Greyhound, near Henley-on-Thames. South Oxfordshire District Council said the score meant hygiene was "poor" with "standards generally low".

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