Chef Tom Kerridge reveals he gets complaints for being a ‘grumpy’ judge on the Great British Menu

Tom Kerridge has revealed that he has been left annoyed from complaints from young cooks that he is a crabby judge on the Great British Menu.

The Michelin-starred chef, 48, said he gets accused of being a ‘grumpy b*****d’ by contestants and complaints that he gives low scores on the BBC Two show.

‘I got quite a lot of stick for being a grumpy b*****d, which is fine,’ he told the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden. ‘If you’re competing as a chef, you’re there to cook, to compete.

‘The chefs eating other chefs’ food don’t want to go, “Oh, that’s only worth a five”; they give it an eight — they’re trying to be nice.’

Tom claimed that the judges were much harsher when he was a contestant on the show a decade ago, saying chef Daniel Clifford would spit people’s food out.

‘When I was on it, I remember [judge] Daniel Clifford spitting food out in the bin. It was brutal,’ he added.

‘And now we are in this world of being nice to everyone.’

Criticism: The Michelin-starred chef, 48, said he gets accused of being a ‘grumpy b*****d’ by contestants and complaints that he gives low scores on the BBC Two show

In 2010, Tom won the cooking show with his delicious slow-cooked Aylesbury duck with duck fat chips and gravy and has since carved out a successful career as a chef.

Elsewhere, the Great British Menu came under fire from viewers in March after subtitles were added to partially deaf chef Mark Aisthorpe.

Mark, from Rotherham, who appeared on the BBC2 cooking show last night, was born with lung condition cystic fibrosis and reads lips due to partial hearing loss. 

However viewers were unimpressed that producers decided to add subtitles to some sections of the programme in which the chef was speaking, while leaving them off others. 

‘I got quite a lot of stick for being a grumpy b*****d’: Tom said that chefs who are trying other cooks’ foods are ‘trying to be nice’ as he discussed his judging tactics 

Many called the choice ‘patronising and offensive’ and were confused about the ‘inconsistency’ of the subtitles, while several others insisted the contestant’s speech was ‘clear as a bell’. 

‘It’s great to have a deaf chef on #GreatBritishMenu – he may need to lipread but I can understand Mark perfectly well without the subtitles, no need to patronise either him or us @GBMofficial’, wrote one viewer. 

Another agreed: ‘I agree I could understand everything he was saying I found that offensive to him that subtitles were added’. 

‘Another great episode of @GBMofficial tonight but just a note for @BBCTwo – I can understand Mark perfectly well without the subtitles #GreatBritishMenu’, said a third. 

Criticism: Elsewhere, the Great British Menu came under fire from viewers in March after subtitles were added to partially deaf chef Mark Aisthorpe 

‘Offensive’: Many called the choice ‘patronising’ and were confused about the ‘inconsistency’ of the subtitles, while several others insisted the contestant’s speech was ‘clear as a bell’

The contestant, who has worked with the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Marcus Wareing, runs the highly acclaimed Bull’s Head pub and restaurant in Holymoorside, North East Derbyshire.  

‘I’ve always wanted to be a chef’, said Mark on the show. 

‘For me it’s such a career achievement to be able to represent to North East.’ 

Another viewer said: ‘Subtitles. No subtitles. Subtitles. I can understand Mark perfectly and I don’t really like that subtitles are being used sporadically.’

Career: The contestant, who has worked with the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Marcus Wareing, runs the Bull’s Head pub and restaurant in Holymoorside, North East Derbyshire