AINSLEY Harriott renowned celebrity chef known for his exuberant charisma is currently in intensive care after the chef set his groin alight during a live stream for BBC’s Good Food YouTube channel. “He is in critical condition at the moment after suffering severe third degree burns. We are doing everything we can to treat mister Harriott” says doctor Ian Godard of Whinfertshire Hospital.

According to viewers who were exposed to the horrific stream, Ainsley was planning on cooking a seafood bisque with a caprice salad but as he started to fry the mussels he grabbed a jerry can from below him and started pouring it over his groin. Merideth Caldwell from Surrey gives her account of what happened next, “he just kept saying ‘rub it in, rub it in now’ and I was just so confused I thought it was a prank but I wasn’t in the slightest amused. He then grabbed a towel that was over his shoulder and put it in the flames from the burner he was using to cook and then slapped it over his groin. He set ablaze immediately and started laughing frantically until screaming in pain. He then said ‘quick help me put it out put it out’ and that was it. I felt sick to my stomach I don’t know how to deal with this.”

So why wasn’t the stream cut before the mayhem ensued? We asked BBC and reached out to their channel but didn’t receive any response. The Good Food Twitter (X) channel left a tweet claiming they had fired a member of staff behind the channel as they had “fallen asleep” on the job.