Pat Llewellyn obituary
Pioneering producer who boosted the TV careers of Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, the Two Fat Ladies an..
Pioneering producer who boosted the TV careers of Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, the Two Fat Ladies and Mary Portas
At a time when most TV food shows were as dull as boiled vegetables in white sauce, Pat Llewellyn, who has died aged 55, revolutionised cookery on the small screen with the roar of Two Fat Ladies on a motorbike. She unveiled Jamie Oliver as The Naked Chef and transformed Gordon Ramsay from a terrifying, swearing chef off screen into an engaging, swearing one on camera. Pat’s vision encouraged a whole younger generation of men to learn to cook and she played a major role in Britain’s food revolution over the past two decades.
Inventing one TV show that becomes a global hit is hard enough. Pat achieved international success with three series: Two Fat Ladies, The Naked Chef and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. She proved a highly astute businesswoman, too. In 2005 she and her husband, Ben Adler, bought out her business partner at Optomen and she took over as managing director. The business grew from £7m in 2004 to a global turnover of £57m in 2014.
