AINSLEY HARRIOTT,

Chef and TV presenter 60, lives in Wandsworth, London. He has two grown-up children, Jimmy and Maddie

are now avid Arsenal supporters too.

2 TENNIS

If I hadn’t become a chef I would have loved to be a top tennis player, although I was never good enough so it wasn’t really an option.

But that has never dimmed my love of the game, which started in childhood when I was lucky enough to be a ball boy at Wimbledon. Now I love the sport as much as ever and I’m a member of the Queen’s Club.

I try to play a couple of times a week as not only does it keep me fit but it is always such incredible fun.

3 SENSE OF TASTE

My mum was the most wonderful cook and our house was always full of delicious food and interesting people. I remember dad entertaining the likes of Des O’Connor and Bruce Forsyth.

But what really shaped my childhood were the amazing Jamaican dishes that mum produced so effortlessly.

I was always intrigued by whatever she was doing in the kitchen and I used to taste everything.

I was lucky too to have such hospitable and multicultural neighbours.

From a young age I was sampling and helping to prepare the most amazing Italian, Indian, Chinese and Greek food which helped me to develop a chef’s sense of taste.

4 MY LABRADOR

When my kids were growing up we had a beautiful black labrador called Oscar who was very much a part of the family. Then five years ago my daughter Maddie persuaded me to get another dog, a golden Labrador puppy that was in need of a new home.

I am very glad that she twisted my arm as Bobby is such a friendly little soul.

He is fantastically talented at catching a ball and returning it so we have a lot of fun together out on the common each day.

When the kids come home they make a beeline for Bobby. I am very much an afterthought.

5 BACKGAMMON

Although my family is originally from Jamaica, I grew up in a diverse community in south London. As my parents were immigrants they made every effort to integrate and we used to go to a wonderful church where we befriended families from all over the world. It was there that I met some Greek boys and I used to spend so much time at their house that their parents joked about me being their eighth child. My friends’ dad was a huge backgammon fan and he taught me how to play. Backgammon remains one of my biggest passions in life. In fact sometimes I’m up into the early hours absorbed in a game. I love it because backgammon combines skill with a certain degree of luck. It’s also a very sociable way to spend an evening because it doesn’t matter if you stop the game every now and then for a chat. Ainsley Harriott will be appearing in Channel 5’s Costa Del Celebrity, which begins on Friday, January 5 at 8pm.