Foodie fight: Doorley in a fresh attack on Marco
FOOD critic Tom Doorley launched a fresh round in his battle with chef Marco Pierre White yesterday.
He told the Irish Daily Mail of his delight in having a ‘stressfree January’ away from The Restaurant since his falling out with White.
White turned his ire on the Irish Daily Mail’s wine and restaurant critic last weekend, claiming Doorley didn’t quit the TV show but had been fired.
The celebrity chef went further in his comments about his former TV colleague, claiming Doorley was clever in the way he worded news of his departure, making it seem like he had chosen to leave.
But Doorley told the Mail yesterday: ‘We could argue the toss about that all day. I had come to a decision to leave. I hadn’t communicated that to the production company because at that point there wasn’t any new series being planned so I didn’t see any point.’
However, he did give a critical interview to Bobby Kerr on Newstalk and says: ‘I think the production company read what I said there as I kind of letter of resignation. And I wouldn’t blame them, because I was essentially saying to Bobby, “Look, Marco’s impossible to work with.” So I think it’s a grey area.’
The pair had been fellow judges on the popular cookery show after White joined, following the death of Paolo Tullio in 2015. Two years later, Doorley said he could no longer work with White. And he said had no regrets about leaving.
‘I had a wonderfully stress-free January and I know if I had been doing The Restaurant I would not have had. So I’m a very happy bunny,’ he said, adding: ‘Doing six episodes of The Restaurant for a princely sum of €3,000 and then having to fight tooth and nail to get my travel expenses to get there, it’s a bit of an insult, to be honest.’
Doorley said the pair ‘fundamentally liked each other’ but White became a different type of person when he had an audience.
‘I think having an audience doesn’t bring out the best in him by any means. It’s a very different experience to being on one’s own with him,’ he said. ‘So my attitude is, the very best of luck with the new format. It really is a new format now because I’m out of the picture. It ain’t The Restaurant that I helped to create in my small way.
‘And if people like it, that’s grand, and if they don’t, sure that’s the way television works. But as I say, I’m not particularly exercised about it.’
It seems unlikely he’ll be tuning in to the new season. ‘I think people are losing a bit of interest in The Restaurant anyway,’ he said.
‘This is series three with Marco. I only knew one of the celebs who are on the season that’s coming up now. I think maybe it’s a bit of a damp squib at this stage you know.’
TV3 was not available for comment last night.
O The first episode of the new series of The Restaurant will be shown at 9pm next Wednesday on TV3, when presenter Nuala Carey will prepare cook for Marco Pierre White and new judge Rachel Allen.
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An audience doesn’t bring out his best