Gary Rhodes: Masterchef, Loose Women and other best career moments

Celebrity chef Gary Rhodes has died at the age of 59, according to a family statement released on Wednesday.

Rhodes, known in the industry as the “chef’s chef”, had a career spanning 35 years in a number of Michelin-star kitchens and on TV screens around the world.

Regarded as being at the forefront of a 90's British food revival, a spiky-haired Rhodes became well known for encouraging Brits to eat national classics like faggots and oxtail.

But it wasn't until he started presenting television cooking shows like Rhodes Around Britain, Hell's Kitchen and Masterchef USA, that he truly became a household name.

Here are some of his career-defining moments.

Hosting Masterchef

Rhodes' first on-screen appearance was in 1992 in a 10-minute documentary series called Hot Chefs, alongside fellow chefs Anthony Worrall Thompson and Ken Hom.

Two years later, he was given his own TV show, Rhodes Around Britain, named after his book of the same name.

But it wasn't until 2000 and 2001, when he hosted two series of Masterchef, Masterchef USA and later Hell's Kitchen, that his TV career really took off.

He also hosted one-off series such as Rhodes Across India, Rhodes Across China, Rhodes Across Italy, and most recently, The Great British Food Revival.

Finding out Gordon Ramsay named a turkey after him

In the first season of Gordon Ramsay's show, The F Word, Rhodes learned his fellow chef had named a turkey after him because it had a "spikey bum".

Ramsay made the comparison between the bird's appearance and Rhodes' iconic hairstyle. He named another turkey Nigella after Nigella Lawson.

When Rhodes learned Ramsay intended to butcher the turkey, he pleaded with him to keep it alive. Ramsay replied: "Are you getting soft in your old age?"

Dancing in flares on Strictly Come Dancing

In 2008 Rhodes decided he wanted to take part in the sixth series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and was partnered with professional dancer Karen Hardy.

But it wasn't to be and Rhodes was the third celebrity to be eliminated from the competition.

Before his departure viewers got to see him dancing in flares and being called "flat footed" by Craig Revel Horwood.

Asking Loose Women's Carol McGiffin "for a snog"

To mark the launch of his new BBC series, Rhodes Across China, in 2008 the chef appeared on an episode of ITV's Loose Women.

During the course of the show Rhodes turned to presenter Carol McGiffin and asked for a "snog" before lunging in for a kiss.

McGiffin later said she didn't mind because "he's much hunkier" than on TV. "He's toned, muscular and tall, and quite good looking," she said.

Young Gary being judged by Prue Leith on Great British Menu

Despite already being a Michelin star winning chef, in 2011 Gary Rhodes decided to compete on the BBC's Great British Menu.

This meant being judged by Prue Leith, currently judge on Channel 4's Great British Bake Off.

In the episode Rhodes is seen demonstrating his perfectionist behaviour when he tells off other kitchen staff for leaving a door open and making his food cold.

Leith says of Rhodes' food: "It's a bit too salty, and it's bitter because it's too burnt."

Taking a whole episode to cook an English breakfast​

Rhodes became notorious in the industry for his passion for British food that saw him awarded six Michelin stars throughout the course of his career.

But he took it to new heights in his series New British Classics, which saw him dedicate an entire episode to cooking an English fry up.

In the episode, Rhodes spoke at length about how to create the perfect bacon, sausages, mushroom, tomatoes, fried egg and fried bread.

Cooking in a hot air balloon​

Never one to do things by halves, in a 1996 episode of 'Open Rhodes', the chef appeared in a hot air balloon flying over his home in Wiltshire.

He even had the pilot to toast some bread in the flames of the hot air balloon.

Later he went on a bouncy castle at a fairground and was chased by an inflatable dragon in his chef's whites...

Being told off by Keith Floyd for using French words​

In the late 1980's Rhodes became one of the youngest chefs in the country to be running a Michelin star kitchen at the Castle Hotel in Taunton, Somerset.

He had taken over from former Head Chef Chris Oakes and managed to retain the hotel's Michelin star status, despite only being 26.

Veteran celebrity chef Keith Floyd, who died in 2009, went to visit Rhodes and made a big deal of his love for British food - by mocking his use of the French "mille feuille" to describe chopped vegetables.

Appearing on 'This Is Your Life'

Despite having decades of his career left to come, in 1996 Rhodes appeared on 'This Is Your Life' with host Michael Aspel.

At the time Rhodes only had two of his six Michelin stars, but he had gained public notoriety in his cooking shows.

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