Ainsley Harriott is televisions most exciting personality chef. Over the past ten years he has appeared in fourteen series of Ready Steady Cook which have aired on tv channels around the world. With eight cooking series under his belt, he has become the master of fresh, fun, accessible cuisine. Ainsleys food reflects the needs of real life. It is diverse and delicious but easy to prepare and speedy to cook.

Aged 16, Ainsley trained at Westminster College and embarked on a career in Londons top hotels and restaurants, starting out as a junior trainee at West End restaurant Verreys, where he graduated to commis chef before moving to The Strand Palace as Chef Tournant. He also started his own catering company. It was an exciting period, says Ainsley. One day Id be creating posh nosh for Elton John the next Id be making steak and kidney pud for Princess Margaret. Ive worked at every level of the catering business - and I think that its an enormous advantage to know how to make delicious beans on toast as well as Lobster Thermidor. With over twenty years experience working in professional kitchens, Ainsley has a very wide understanding of his craft. Hotels and restaurants include The Dorchester, Browns, The Hilton, The Westbury, New Bond Street, Caf Peilican and Quaglinos.

In the early 1990s Ainsley worked as Head Chef of the Long Room at Lords Cricket Ground and it was during one cricket season that BBC Radio asked him to present More Nosh, Less Dosh for BBC Radio 5. A call from BBC Pebble Mill soon followed and Ainsley moved in to become resident chef on BBC tvs Good Morning With Anne And Nick. This in turn led to Ready Steady Cook and his tv career took off.

Ready Steady Cook started airing in 1994. Fourteen series and well over a thousand episodes later, it celebrates ten happy years in 2004. When he became series host in 2000, the show gained a new lease of life and extra viewers. Over the years it has featured numerous guests including, Nick Nairn, Ross Burden, Antony Worrall Thompson, Brian Turner, Kevin Woodford, Silvana Franco, James Martin and Lesley Waters to name but a few.