Harriott's talents lie in comedy and singing as well as cooking. He formed the Calypso Twins with school friend Paul Boross, releasing a hit record in the early 1990s, "World Party". The Calypso Twins were regular performers at the
Comedy Store and
Jongleurs; they also performed in America and on TV and radio shows. Harriott became head chef at the
Long Room of Lord's Cricket Ground. He was asked to present
More Nosh, Less Dosh on
BBC Radio 5 Live, and also has appeared as an extra in
Hale and Pace.
Television work '', August 2004 Harriott became the resident chef on
Good Morning with Anne and Nick and later the main presenter of ''
Can't Cook, Won't Cook and originally a chef on Ready Steady Cook before he went on to host it in 2000, both shows involving members of the public. He has presented more straightforward how-to-cook programmes such as Ainsley's Barbecue Bible
, Ainsley's Meals in Minutes
, Ainsley's Big Cook Out
and Ainsley's Gourmet Express.'' Harriott played the part of a GELF chief in the sci-fi comedy series
Red Dwarf in 1993. In 1998, for the show's 10th anniversary, Harriott presented a special edition of ''Can't Cook, Won't Cook
called Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg'' with the cast of the show cooking a meal while remaining in character. In 2000, Harriott made his debut on United States television with
The Ainsley Harriott Show, produced by
Merv Griffin Entertainment and syndicated by
Buena Vista Television, the series also ended in 2000. Harriot then went on to host
Ready... Set... Cook!, the American version of
Ready Steady Cook. Ainsley was guest chef on
Something for the Weekend on 10 May 2009 and 21 February 2010 alongside guests
JLS. In February 2010, Harriott joined the morning show
GMTV with Lorraine featuring cookery recipes. From 2002 until 2007, Harriott appeared in TV adverts for
Fairy Liquid. In September 2008, Harriott took part in the genealogy documentary series
Who Do You Think You Are? Harriott knew that his great-grandfather Ebenezer Harriott was in the colonial
West India Regiment, and had assumed that they were descended from slaves. In Barbados, he confirmed that his great-grandfather had a distinguished military career, and learnt that he had fought on the side of the British in the
Hut Tax War of 1898 – an increasingly violent series of protests against systems of taxation in
Sierra Leone. Although Harriott had assumed that his great-great-grandfather, James Gordon Harriott, was a black slave, he was revealed to be the descendant of a long line of white slaveowners. Harriott appeared in the final
My Family Christmas special in 2010 "Mary Christmas". On 11 August 2015, he was announced as the second contestant of the thirteenth series of
Strictly Come Dancing. On 5 September 2015 it was revealed Harriott was paired with professional dancer
Natalie Lowe for the
thirteenth series. He was the fourth contestant to be voted off and finished twelfth. Harriott was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the
2020 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and the culinary arts.
Writing , June 2010 Harriott is a best-selling author, publishing twelve books as well as numerous others in conjunction with his television shows. Including foreign-language translations, he has sold over 2 million books worldwide.
Other work Harriott was the President of the
Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) 2004–05 and presented their awards ceremony that year. He markets his own range of food, including couscous, risotto, soups and cereal bars. Harriott played the role of the Narrator in
The Rocky Horror Show at the
New Theatre, Cardiff in March 2010, at the
Churchill Theatre,
Bromley in October 2010, and again at the
Richmond Theatre in November 2010. He made a guest appearance in the BBC radio comedy series
Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off as himself in 2006. In 2022 Harriot, along with others including the
DIY SOS presenter
Nick Knowles, helped to save his sister Jacqueline from drowning after she fell into a water feature at the
Chelsea Flower Show. In December 2023 Harriot won the Christmas special of
The Masked Singer as Partridge (in a Pear Tree). == Personal life ==