Heston Blumenthal is set to return to TV in a BBC series about chefs who "ripped up the rule-book of British fine dining."
The celebrity chef, known for his multi-sensory cooking and unusual dishes like bacon and egg ice cream, will join Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White in The Rise of the Rockstar Chef, which looks at "the pursuit of perfection" and the "fights, fall-outs and feuds" amid the early kitchen rivalries.
The chef, whose previous shows include Heston's Feasts and How to Cook Like Heston, will reunite with Gordon and Marco, with the BBC saying their "drive, creativity and uncompromising pursuit of excellence helped transform modern British cuisine and placed it firmly on the global stage."
Three-part series for BBC One and iPlayer
The three-part programme was commissioned for BBC One and iPlayer and made by Studio Ramsay Global.
The BBC revealed the episodes would "explore how the chefs' unwavering ambition and intense rivalry reshaped Britain's restaurant industry and redefined what it meant to be a fine dining chef, ultimately inspiring a generation around the world," reports the Mirror.
"Featuring candid testimony from the trio themselves, as well as those who witnessed the fights, fall-outs and feuds first-hand, including renowned food critics, maîtres d' and former commis chefs, the story culminates in an extraordinary on-screen reunion that brings the three chefs together for the first time in decades to revisit defining moments and confront the legacy of an era that reshaped British dining," the broadcaster continued.
Catherine Catton, head of commissioning for factual entertainment and events, added that it would tell the story of the "fierce rivalry, uncompromising ambition and, at times, truly outrageous antics."
Blumenthal's earlier shows and bipolar documentary
Heston burst onto the scene in the noughties with shows such as Kitchen Chemistry with Heston Blumenthal and Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection, with fans enthralled by recipes such as snail porridge and a caviar and white chocolate dessert.
However, last year he made a documentary about his bipolar diagnosis, titled Heston: My Life with Bipolar.
The chef was diagnosed after mental health struggles in 2023. Filmed over six months, the documentary followed Heston in the aftermath of his diagnosis.
“I was living with undiagnosed bipolar for many years, so it’s been an extraordinary journey to get where I am today,” he said at the time. “There is still a big stigma around bipolar but it is vital to be able to talk openly about the condition.”
The Rise of the Rockstar Chef will be on BBC One and iPlayer.
