Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
GORDON SPLASHES THE CASH
Gordon Ramsay puts 12 budding tycoons through hell as they compete for £150,000 of his own money
Take a pinch of Dragons’ Den, add a dash of The Apprentice and stir in a spoonful of I’m A Celebrity… and you have the recipe for a new reality series presented by chef Gordon Ramsay. In BBC1’S Future Food Stars, Gordon puts 12 entrepreneurs with food and drink businesses through their paces, and at the end chooses one to invest £150,000 of his own money in.
It’s clear from the start he isn’t just looking for a shrewd business operator to work with – he wants somebody with courage. After plunging from a helicopter into the sea off St Ives in Cornwall, Gordon invites his Future Food Stars to do something equally daring. So, a little way up the coast, the contestants have to jump 40ft off Newquay’s rocky Towan headland into the ocean below.
‘I’m not just planning on investing £150,000 into one of their businesses, I’m investing in them as people – which is why I wanted to truly test their character and discover their true DNA,’ explains Gordon. ‘And what better way to do that than getting them to literally jump off a cliff?’
The exercise, which leaves at least one contestant shaking, is not the only challenge of the eight-part series. Especially hairraising is one in the Lake District, where they have to cross the Infinity Bridge, Europe’s longest high-wire bridge. It proves hard going for some, with one in particular taking a very long time to complete the task.
Aside from the charactertesting challenges, Future Food Stars is about examining the culinary and business talents of the contestants. In this week’s first episode Gordon splits them into teams of four and gives each group a £600 budget to make street food such as tacos, noodles and toasties on a beach in Cornwall. The winners are the team that makes most money selling the food to the public during a hectic lunchtime. Later in London, Gordon eliminates one person from the group that generated the least income.
‘I’ve always maintained that there are three key things in business,’ says Gordon. ‘Do you like each other? Do you respect each
other? And does the business have scope? I need to tick those three boxes on Future Food Stars in order to start a successful relationship.’
The entrepreneurs competing for the cash include Amit, who’s developed a range of Indian sauces using family recipes; Asher, who makes quirkily flavoured jams including espresso martini marmalade; Vincenzo, whose company produces
smoked salmon; and Victoria, who’s created a range of vegan snacks.
‘The series offers a chance to catapult someone to the next level, as well as giving them a chance to showcase their skills and product,’ says Gordon. ‘Whoever wins the £150,000 will really have earned it!’
Tim Oglethorpe Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars starts on Thursday, 9pm, BBC1.