Kirstie Allsopp:

How my fussy children (and too many bacon sarnies) inspired me to write a new family cookbook

IT’S hard to imagine anyone saying no to Kirstie Allsopp – the forthright star of Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location.

But the presenter has revealed that she faces so much dissent from her ‘fussy’ children at mealtimes that she is forced to cook several different sauces whenever she serves pasta.

And now Miss Allsopp, 46, has penned her first cookery book – inspired by having to keep everyone happy in a family of demanding eaters.

Speaking exclusively to You Magazine, she revealed the book also reflects her recent experience of gaining and losing two stone, after years of bacon sandwiches and pub lunches.

Miss Allsopp said she lived in a ‘blended’ family, with two stepsons from partner Ben Andersen, and two sons of their own, which made meals complicated.

‘I thought, “Oh, God, they’ll tell their mum I’m starving them or

‘I screamed at the kids and fled in tears’

something awful”,’ she said. ‘I was so anxious about them eating that I got it wrong, and when my children were learning to eat they saw my step-children being fussy, so everyone got very fussy.’

Things came to a head when her step-children refused to eat a meal she had prepared. After they pushed away their spaghetti bolognese, Miss Allsopp screamed at them before fleeing the room in tears. She says things ‘have got massively better since then’.

She is still forced to make a different breakfast for each boy every morning, but admits it’s ‘a rod I’ve made for my own back’.

With all the drama, she says she was forced to focus on cooking far more than before she met Ben.

The result is Kirstie’s Real Kitchen, recipes from which feature in a 24-page You magazine pullout today.