MARCO PIERRE WHITE

Self-control is true power.

My favourite dinner is a cup of tea and a ham sandwich with English mustard.

Like most fathers, I would do anything for my children, and I've worked very hard at trying to be a good father. I want to give them education, security, everything I never had.

I love the institution of marriage.

A lot of people say I look like a rock star or a designer punk. But I swear it's the job that has carved my face. It's the hours, the stress, and the pressure. It's not me trying to look like this.

My children are, without question, the most wonderful thing. I've learnt more about myself through my children than any other experience in my life.

I was brought up a working-class Tory. I believe, to be a true socialist, you have to be a capitalist first. In my heart, I'm a socialist; in my mind, I'm a capitalist.

We all make mistakes. God knows I've made more than anyone else I know.

I'm the Christopher Biggins of reality TV.

Harveys opened against the backdrop of Thatcher's greed culture.

I discovered that the world of the finest restaurants was something akin to the world of the Mafia.

I think, in life, the more you force things, they break. You just let things happen.

Nine out of 10 English chefs have their names on their chests. Who do they think they are? They're dreamers. They're jokes.

As far as I am concerned, ambition is the most dangerous occupation in the world. I have never been ambitious, or if I have, it's only been by default.

I love working. I love doing things. I don't like sitting.

'Kitchen Wars' makes 'MasterChef' look like a walk in the park!

Buy locally where possible, but if you can't get the very best locally, don't buy locally. Buy it from where it is best.

The French make the best wine.

The pressure of TV can force people to do odd things.

I never had a drink at all till I was 38. I'm just not a drinker. I go days without drinking.

A cookery book should be there for inspiration. Recipes should be a guideline, and they shouldn't be cast in stone.

I don't believe I've ever truly been in love because I don't believe that I've known myself well enough in the past to allow someone to love me.

You cannot criticize a man for going to work. You really cannot.

My tortured life - with its extremes and conflicts - might have been difficult for me to deal with, but the press couldn't get enough of it. I was in the papers every day, 'the enfant terrible of the culinary world.'

I think Singapore is one of the great cities of the world.