Ramsay urges McCutcheon to sharpen skills

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay encourages Martine McCutcheon to sharpen her cookery skills on his new food show.

McCutcheon appears as a guest in the first episode of Channel 4’s The F Word this Thursday.

And the former EastEnders actress proved Ramsay’s claim that women “can’t cook to save their lives” to be correct – by admitting she doesn’t know how to switch her oven on.

Ramsay risked angering his female fans earlier this week when he suggested women live on a diet of ready meals because they don’t have any culinary skills.

McCutcheon, 29, admitted: “I do toast and scrambled eggs in the microwave with baked beans. That’s really good for me.

“I’d love to be able to cook a roast dinner, but I don’t even know how to switch the oven on. I don’t have any saucepans, I use paper plates so I don’t have to wash up and I only have one sharp knife – for people I hate!”

Ramsay tried to give McCutcheon a lesson in knife sharpening but she squealed: “I’m scared of cutting a finger off. Gordon’s a brave man to ask me to close my eyes with a knife in my hand.”

In an interview with the Radio Times, Hell’s Kitchen chef Ramsay complained about women’s inability to cook.

“I’ve been visiting ladies’ houses up and down the country with our film crew and you would be amazed how little cooking the girls are doing.

“When they eat, they cheat. It is ready meals and pre-prepared meals all the way.

“Seriously, there are huge numbers of young women out there who know how to mix cocktails but can’t cook to save their lives, whereas men are finding their way into the kitchen in ever-growing numbers,” he said.

“Trust me, I am only telling you what I have discovered.”