SHOWBIZ legend Christopher Biggins has revealed how he still gets praise for cooking up a storm with fiery chef Gordon Ramsay. The panto fave will appear in the new series of the popular show Cooking With The Stars from next week. 4 Biggins goes binkies at Gordon Ramsay on The F Word.
4 Biggins being crowned King of the Jungle. 4 Biggins also jokingly threatened Ramsay with a blowtorch on The F Word. 4 Biggins will return to host the Fringe at Prestonfield in August.
But the entertainer was thanked by ITV production staff for the way he snapped back at Ramsay, when he branded the Scots hothead “delusional” during the making of his series The F Word. Christopher, who is simply known as Biggins, says: “I recently made Cooking With The Stars and when we finished we went for a meal in Soho when a woman said to me, ‘You won’t remember me, but I was the producer on Gordon Ramsay’s show called The F Word.’ “She said she’d had a terrible time on the show but said, ‘You were so good because you stood up to him.
’ She said I had been the only one who did. And she was right as I did stand up to him.” Viewers saw Gordon, 57, start to nitpick during the 2008 episode of his Channel 4 show, telling the stage star to, “F***ing concentrate”, only for Biggins to bite back, ‘I am f***ing concentrating’, before jokingly threatened the chef with a blowtorch.
READ MORE SHOWBIZ FAMILY REUNION Gordon Ramsay's wife reveals all four kids have moved back into family home CHEF'S KISS Gordon Ramsay's daughter Holly cosies up to sports superstar at Wimbledon Matters then reached boiling point when Gordon said customers were complaining about the food being “over seasoned” before claiming he saw Biggins throwing “clumps of salt” onto the dishes. But Biggins then brands the chef as “delusional” and insists he must be “on drugs” adding, “I put no f***ing salt in any of it.” And he now believes he was stitched-up by bosses on the show which ran from 2005 to 2010 and helped establish Ramsay as one of the country’s leading TV chefs .
Biggins, who will host a series of live chat shows from Edinburgh’s Prestonfield House next month, says: “We had this big shouting match and he kept saying I had put too much salt in the food. Most read in Showbiz ROCK ON 90s Britpop legends to host intimate Glasgow gig as part of celebration OH MANDY! Amanda Holden, 53, looks stunning in barely-there pink bikini GLADIATOR READY Oscar-winning Hollywood icon stuns locals as he's spotted at Scots hotel riding high Watch as Katie Price breaks silence on dressage trainer Andrew Gould “The bit they cut out was when I said, ‘Your guys added the salt.’ I think it was definitely done on purpose to create a drama.
” Biggins, 75, from Oldham, Lancashire, began his career as a serious actor, landing the role of lag Lukewarm in the BBC sitcom Porridge with Ronnie Barker in 1974. Gordon Ramsay's Blockbuster Year! He then appeared in the cult movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show with US singer Meat Loaf and Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon the next year. The star also landed the role as Roman Emperor Nero alongside some acting greats, including Derek Jacobi and John Hurt, in the classic Beeb series I, Claudius in 1976.
However, it was his roles as co-host of Cilla Black’s Sunday night series Surprise Surprise and in the kids’ shows Rentaghost and On Safari , which turned him from thesp into a bubbly TV personality. While in 2007 he beat gobby US supermodel Janice Dickinson to be crowned winner of I’m A Celebrity..
.Get Me Out Of Here. Biggins, who was greeted at the end of the show by his Greenock-born British Airways steward partner Neil Sinclair, 60, says: “We gave ITV their first gay, all-male kiss when Neil met me on the bridge – it was a fantastic moment.
” Now he will head north again for his show Fringe at Prestonfield which will feature chats with some of his best showbiz mates including Janet Street-Porter , Jasper Carrot, Alistair McGowan, Su Pollard, Janey Godley, Hayley Mills and Dame Maureen Lipman . He will also interview Lulu who is on her farewell tour before she hangs up her microphone - but Biggins also claims he has been “retiring” from panto for the past eight years. Biggins laughs: “I think when you get to a certain age when you think, ‘Right, this is the last one then I’m going to retire,’ but then they keep offering money to come back, so I never do.
“But I recently had a new knee put in, which has gone really well, and a pig’s valve put into my heart, so I’ve been rebuilt like the Bionic Man and I’m ready for another panto season. “Ideally I won’t retire, instead I’ll just go to bed one night and not wake up. That’s the way I want to bow out.
” He adds: “But Lulu and I are the same age as we’re both born in 1948. I’m thrilled she is coming onto my show and I shall ask her about retiring - but I have a funny feeling she won’t be retiring either.” One of his newest pals is the comedian Katherine Ryan , who will also be joining up at the five star hotel.
He says: “I just recently worked with Katherine Ryan on Cooking with the Stars. It got to a stage where we’re up against each other “I won’t give any spoilers but we both stayed in the show until the end and had a great time, so I’m delighted she’s coming to Fringe at Prestonfield.” And Biggins firmly believes that friendly, funny cookery shows like Cooking with the Stars have the right ingredients for today’s audiences rather than the sweary, combative Gordon Ramsay programmes of old.
EXTRAS MICKEY TAKE WAS GOOD FUN BIGGINS insists he was “flattered” when Ricky Gervais and Les Dennis took the mickey out of him in a classic episode of Extras. Comedian Les appeared as himself in the BBC sitcom in 2005 when he’s paired in panto with Gervais’s struggling actor character Andy Millman. However Les expresses amazement when told that Biggins “was too busy” to play Millman’s role as the genie, replying: “Biggins was busy?” Biggins says: “I know Les very well and I loved that episode - he was amazing in it.
“But I often get lines like that, when I’m mentioned on shows and I’m really flattered and touched every time. “I think Biggins is a great name to be known by, because it’s just my real name. And it kind of sums up my character.
” He adds: “Yes it would have been nice to have been in a show like Extras but nowadays I really don’t want to act anymore. I find learning lines tedious - boring. “So apart from panto, all I really want to do is travel to places I’ve never been to before.
“But yes, it’s still nice to be remembered, even when people are taking the mickey.” He says: “Cookery shows have moved on now. Viewers really want to see the technical side of cooking on shows from Master Chef to the Great British Bake-Off.
“I’ve done lots of cooking programs too but I enjoy watching them as much as I do being on them. “One of my favourites is Bake-Off: The Professionals on Channel 4 where these expert chefs have to make puddings. I find it absolutely fascinating, especially when their intricate creations sometimes collapse on the floor.
“Like most people, I would much rather watch that than someone shouting and swearing which just makes you feel uncomfortable.” He adds: “I think Gordon has calmed down a lot now and I’ve got great admiration for all he’s done and achieved in his career. Read more on the Scottish Sun GRIN & BER IT Our stunning Scots seaside town is 'best in UK' - but tourists are ruining it OUTTA LUCK Scotland's Lotto hotspot revealed - map shows HUNDREDS of secret millionaires “But you have always got to stand up for yourself, as just because he’s Gordon Ramsay, it doesn’t mean he’s God.
” *Fringe at Prestonfield takes place from August 16 to 25. For more information and tickets visit: fringeatprestonfield.co.
uk.
