ITV has cancelled Marco Pierre White’s ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ saying that making the show is too expensive. The surly chef will be back on our screens but in a slightly adapted show titled ‘Marco’s Kitchen Burnout.’

Burnout will be much cheaper to produce. No longer will the apprentice chefs live together, nor will ITV build their own restaurant. Instead they will use a real London eatery and according to The Sun, celebrity guests will have to pay for their food.

A show source told the newspaper: “It’s no secret that Hell’s Kitchen was an expensive show. This time they’re keeping the costs down and making it easier for decent celebs to take part – because they won’t have to live with everyone else.

“Bosses are gunning for some good names so it should be a cracking show.”

The show will be filmed in January and February next year and aired on Friday nights in April.

Hell’s Kitchen runner up, Ade Edmondson has said that Marco Pierre White is quitting the ITV show because it is more about entertainment than cooking.

Ade told The Sun: “He’s very intent on his cooking and the show’s not really about cooking, is it? I think he began to realise it’s more of an entertainment show and he’d like to concentrate on something more serious.”

I don’t know that ITV can find another chef to take over the show, who will do such a good job as White. He is tough without being cruel, and as Ade said during his interview he inspires instead of humiliating. Somehow I can’t see Jamie Oliver or Heston Blumenthal doing the job as well.

Marco Pierre White is quitting TV for good, according to The Sun.

The chef is currently appearing in ITV’s Hell’s Kitchen and has done so for the last two years, however the newspaper reports that he will not be presenting the show if it returns in 2010.

A source said: “He’s ready to throw in the towel now — he’s had enough. ITV have offered him opportunities to present other shows, but he’s not interested.

“Marco doesn’t need the money and he never set out to acquire fame.

“He took part in Hell’s Kitchen for the past two years because he felt that certain celebrity chefs portrayed the role badly.

“He hated the idea of kitchens being run by bullies. He knows he shouts too, but he doesn’t believe it’s necessary to scream and swear all the time to gain control.”

The source added: “Marco has always been very different from other celebrity chefs, with his wild character and big hair. He sees himself as much more rock ’n’ roll.

“He is keen to turn his focus on to running his restaurants. They are his priority now. He’s enjoyed his time in front of the camera but he says he won’t miss it at all.”

Marco has said of his TV role: “I’m here to feed the diners and inspire the contestants to cook and to win and inspire the public to want to cook.

“I did Hell’s Kitchen because I didn’t like the way certain people on TV portrayed my industry and I want to encourage young boys and girls to come into my industry.”

Hell’s Kitchen reject Grant Bovey has questioned Marco Pierre White’s reasoning when he questioned Grant’s lack of humility in the kitchen.

Talking to Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield on This Morning, he said: “Marco was encouraging me to be the leader. He would say, ‘Grant, we need leadership in the kitchen, you carry on, you’re doing a sound job’ so I did carry on doing that…and clearly that led me to be sacked.”

He continued” “Marco is just very complicated. And as for me not showing any humility, I didn’t understand that remark at all. I was on the mash service for the first time and the service was two and half hours that night, which was twice as long as any other night we’d done, and we had a lot more people in.

“And yes, there was someone there to help me but I didn’t want to call upon Marco because I wanted to prove to Marco that I could do it on my own. And every portion of mash potato was delivered on time and hot and I did it myself. Yes, I made a mess doing it, but to me, making a mess wasn’t a problem.”

Hell’s Kitchen presenter Claudia Winkleman has revealed that she has some less than platonic feelings towards show chef Marco Pierre White.

In an interview with Celebs On Sunday Claudia admitted:

“I wasn’t sure how I was going to react when I first met him. I thought I might end up putting my hair in bunches, and scratching myself – that’s when you can tell I really like a boy, I start twiddling my hair, and I do it with him, I think. He’s so tall and strong and I come up to his knees, but occasionally he’ll look down and smile at me.”

Gary Lineker met the wrath of Marco Pierrre White when he tried to sneak into his kitchen and sneak a kiss to his fiance Danielle Bux.

As soon as Marco spotted Gary, he sent him packing, saying: “Remember Gary we’ve got a job to do. I’m just asking you to respect our job.”

However Gary is now worried that Marco has an ulterior motive where Danielle is concerned.

He told The Sun: “I saw in the first show he was there with her. He was also very keen to get me out of there. Should I worry? Do you think there’s an ulterior motive?”

Anthea Turner’s husband Grant Bovey – who won praise from fearsome chef Marco Pierre White for his fish dish in the first show – has apparently been trying to earn extra brownie points by staying behind to do the washing up.

The Press Association reports that of the eight contestants, only three stayed behind after service to tidy up, and Grant’s wife Anthea wasn’t one of them. Grant said,

“When service finished three of us stayed behind to clear up” adding,

“The end of service came and there was such a relief that five people thought it was appropriate to down tools and go back to their quarters … something told me that Marco would be annoyed if you left your station like that.”

Wow, I wonder if Anthea’s back hurt his knife??

And what he didn’t add is that he may well have stayed on his knees for the rest of the night lest his nose should accidentally slip out of MPW’s orifice…

Mind you, maybe he’s right to be sucker-up-of-the-year because it seems that fear of Marco’s temper has Niomi MacLean-Daley – singer Ms Dynamite – very much on edge. In the Confessional, she said, “When he (MPW) walks in and doesn’t say anything I literally ‘do do’ myself,” she said.

I wonder if Grant’ll stay and wash-up her behind then?

Hell’s Kitchen chef, Marco Pierre White, has opened up about his well documented feud with former show presenter Angus Deayton.

Deayton was sacked from the show just last month after Pierre White refused to work with him any longer. White told the News Of The World: “His humour was forced, and negative. I would be working hard and he would be making jibes at where I came from and my name.

Deayton has been replaced by Claudia Winkleman.

“Claudia is naturally funny and the energy around her is much nicer,” Pierre White added.

White then turned his wrath on fellow chef and former protégé Gordon Ramsay

“Gordon’s made some big mistakes, but trying to deny his affair was probably the biggest,” the chef explained. “He deserved to be exposed.

“He will be remembered for how he’s behaved on TV, and behind his wife’s back, not on the great things he’s achieved in the kitchen. His Michelin stars are now an irrelevance. And that’s what he’s becoming.”

Marco Pierre White has denied rumours that this year’s Hell’s Kitchen will face huge cuts due to the ongoing credit crunch.

Speaking on ITV1’s This Morning, Marco denied that the set would be cheaper and ingredients of the value variety.

“That’s nonsense. Firstly the set is the most glamorous set I’ve ever seen, secondly the kitchen that I’ve got is a much better kitchen than I was given last time, and thirdly we’ve still got all the luxurious items like lobsters, turbots and quails’ eggs,” he explained.

Discussing his reasons for returning to the programme, he said: “To be quite honest, there is a little part of me that misses the kitchens.

“Let’s not forget I retired ten years ago, so to step back every so often is quite nice.”

Marco Pierre White is back in the kitchen as a group of unsuspecting celebrities prepare to face a journey into hell as they attempt to feed a restaurant packed full of discerning diners each night.

The celebrities will leave their star status firmly at the kitchen door as Marco puts them to the ultimate test. They will learn how to cook a menu of classic dishes inspired by food Marco likes to eat and will have to live up to his exacting standards.

Claudia Winkleman will host the live show nightly from the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant in East London when it returns for its fourth series on Monday April 13.

The celebrities taking part in the show are: TV presenter Anthea Turner; model Danielle Bux; singer Ms Dynamite; actor and comedian Adrian Edmondson; former Liverpool goalie Bruce Grobbelaar; Entrepreneur Grant Bovey; actor Jody Latham and actress Linda Evans.

Marco, dubbed the godfather of British cuisine, will attempt to work his magic on the rookie chefs as they have just two weeks to learn how to dish up a feast fit for showbiz royalty.

He will push them to their limits to achieve perfection and crank up the heat to ensure every diner is fed.

This time there will be no room for error as Marco will have the power to sack the celebrities who he thinks aren’t up to the job. When it comes to choosing the series winner, the power will be back in the hands of the viewers who will vote for their favourite.

And, for the first time on Hell’s Kitchen, each night the two trainee chefs who have failed to impress Marco will feel the heat as he banishes them into the restaurant to wait on tables. Each guest waiter will be responsible for serving half the restaurant under the direction of maitre d’ Nick Munier.

They will have to take all orders and deliver food to the tables, plus they will be responsible for dishing out the desserts from the trolley.

It’s every cook for themselves as they work in just one team to impress both Marco and the customers.

And with just one kitchen there will be nowhere to hide for the rookie chefs.

Plus Marco will be inviting celebrity chefs including his friends Jean Christophe Novelli and Mario Batali to Hell’s Kitchen where they will put the trainees through their paces in a set of unique challenges.