Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)

Gordon’s gold rush

Chef banks on hit game show

- Nicola.methven@mirror.co.uk @mirrormeth­s

glamorous set possible, asking “if James Bond was ever to walk on to a game show, what would it look like?”

The rose-gold set resembles a spaceship which he says “intimidate­s every goddamn guest that walks up those stairs”.

Ramsay, 54, said to be worth £48million, came in for criticism last year for laying off 500 staff at his restaurant­s at the start of the pandemic rather than putting them on furlough.

Claiming the Government has been “super supportive” of the industry, he says: “It’s been tough. Think of the pressure: 22,472 reservatio­ns we had to cancel through December. The one glory month that gets us through that first weak part of the year, January, February, when everyone goes dry and becomes a vegan for 90 days.” He adds: “I haven’t missed the food critics. But no doubt those f***ers are coming back.”

Filmed with social distancing, some players on the show have struggled due to the pandemic.

“I look at the contestant­s and it’s like my sister’s friend or my mum’s friend from her hospice,” Ramsay says. “These are real people who are experienci­ng some very awkward, difficult, traumatic times. You see how nervous they are. Their lips are quivering, they’re twitching, you have to calm them down. I love that kind of pressure, FYI. I didn’t go up there all cocksure about becoming a phenomenal host. I just kept it real.”

He says playing the game was comparable to running a high-end restaurant. “It’s packed with jeopardy because you’re up against the clock. If there’s one thing Bank Balance has taught me to be, it’s be decisive. Stand by your conviction­s.”

The aim is to make Bank Balance a UK hit before touting it across the world. “There’s been a lot of interest in the US,” he says. “Make it a UK cool Britannia hit. Let that speak volumes.”

And he says when contestant­s come away with little or nothing, it gets him down. “I take it personally,” he sighs.

Bank Balance, BBC1, February 24, 9pm.

I haven’t missed food critics but no doubt those are coming back GORDON ON COVID AND BEING A TOP CHEF

THE Scotland Yard negotiator who helped SAS troops save 19 hostages during the Iranian Embassy siege has died aged 84.

Chief Supt Max Vernon led the six-man team charged with talking down the armed terrorists who seized the building in 1980 and took 26 people hostage. The Arab separatist­s had demanded autonomy for part of southern Iran following a regime crackdown.

They wanted the release of 91 prisoners and their own safety in return for handing over the hostages.

But then-pm Margaret Thatcher refused to guarantee them safe passage out of Britain. Between April 30 and May 5, the world watched and waited as Mr Vernon embarked on life-saving talks.

His patience and smooth-talking gave the SAS B Squadron time they needed to storm the embassy in Kensington, West London. Mr Vernon displayed incredible bravery by volunteeri­ng to ferry cigarettes to the front door of the embassy to get pictures of the criminals inside.

He later admitted they could have shot him or added him to their hostage list.

During the 17-minute raid the crack troops rescued all but one of the remaining hostages, including BBC worker Sim Harris, and killed five of the six hostage-takers. Rusty Firman, a Lance Corporal in the SAS, claimed “the outcome could have been very different” without Mr Vernon’s input.

He said: “He kept them talking for six days and bought us time.

“He deserves more credit than he ever got.”

The officer’s role was brought to the big screen by actor Mark Strong in the 2017 film 6 Days.

Five years earlier Mr Vernon was involved in the siege of Balcombe St in Central London, where the IRA held two hostages for six days before surrenderi­ng.

He bought us time. He deserves more credit than he got RUSTY FIRMAN SAS SOLDIER AT THE SIEGE

 ??  ?? BREAK MOULD He wanted set to look Bond cool
BREAK MOULD He wanted set to look Bond cool
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? BRAVE Max
TENSE DRAMA Crack troops storm the embassy
BRAVE Max TENSE DRAMA Crack troops storm the embassy
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? TERRIFYING Hostage Sim Harris escapes as explosives blow up in a room behind him
TERRIFYING Hostage Sim Harris escapes as explosives blow up in a room behind him

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