BBC Traitor Claudia Winkleman returns to ITV’s Hell’s Kitchen as she prepares to host alongside Gordon Ramsay – 17 years after she first fronted the present
Talk about a betrayal! Having won a legion of fans on the BBC, Traitors supremo Claudia Winkleman has signed up to host ITV‘s revival of Hell’s Kitchen.
Ms Winkleman, 54, will present the culinary competition alongside the show’s creator, Gordon Ramsay.
Hell’s Kitchen first aired on ITV from 2004 to 2009, with Ms Winkleman fronting the fourth and final season.
Network bosses have been tight-lipped about the return, but insiders say it will follow its original format – with celebrity contestants learning to cook in a busy restaurant.
It is expected to air in March, when the second series of Ms Winkleman’s BBC chat show would have been broadcast had she not quit.
She said her decision came after realising it was ‘not what I’m good at’ but it appears the move may have been influenced by the ITV offer.
BBC Traitor Claudia Winkleman is returning to ITV’s Hell’s Kitchen as she prepares to host alongside Gordon Ramsay -17 years after she first fronted the show
Network bosses have been tight-lipped about the return, but insiders say it will follow its original format – with celebrity contestants learning to cook in a busy restaurant (Gordon pictured on the show in 2022)
The presenter, who quit Strictly Come Dancing last year after 11 years, has had a boost in popularity thanks to the success of The Traitors and its celebrity spin-off. She also hosts The Piano for Channel 4.
A source said: ‘Hell’s Kitchen’s return is in full swing and Claudia and Gordon have been secured.’
Ramsay, 60, presents the US version of the show, which features budding chefs rather than celebrities.
Claudia has hosted The Traitors and its Celebrity spin off since 2022 but previously revealed that when she was first offered the job she said no, fearing it would demand too much time away from her family.
An executive persuaded her to at least watch the Dutch original series before giving her final answer, and thankfully the star was hooked.
‘I’m always in bed at 9pm with my book, but I started watching, and at midnight, I sent her a text saying, “I’ll buy my own ticket”,’ she tells Harper’s Bazaar Magazine.
But she still wasn’t convinced when filming began in Scotland, recalling how her TV producer husband Kris Thykier called her to ask how filming was going.
‘I said, “I’m standing in the Highlands wearing red fingerless gloves and carrying a ceremonial pouch – I think it’s over. But I’ve had a good run…”‘
It is expected to air in March, when the second series of Ms Winkleman’s BBC chat show would have been broadcast had she not quit
On the back of her huge ratings success with The Traitors, the BBC was keen to capitalise on Claudia and a gap in her schedule after she and Tess Daly quit Strictly after ‘long discussions’.
The Claudia Winkleman Show was launched to massive hype in March. The ratings for the chat show were solid and Claudia was offered a second series.
She admits she decided to walk away because ‘I didn’t enjoy it’.
‘Argh! The BBC wanted me to give it a go. Maybe, I thought, let’s try something different? But never again,’ she insists.
‘That’s it. It wasn’t for me. I didn’t enjoy it, I didn’t like having my name on it, it’s not what I’m good at. I need a format – it can’t just be me. They said, “OK, if that’s your decision, but we’d like you to try again”, and I was like, no. Once was enough.’
She says she hasn’t dwelled on her decision to step away, pointing out ‘it’s brilliant to give something a go, and it’s brilliant to fail’.
