Claudia Winkleman is in talks to front a revival of Hell’s Kitchen for ITV, in a move that could take the presenter away from the BBC for the first time in 17 years.
The reported discussions are understood to be at an early stage, with Winkleman said to be at the top of producers’ list to host the cookery competition. Insiders told The Sun that ITV was prepared to work around her existing commitments in an effort to secure her.
Winkleman, 54, last presented for ITV when she took over Hell’s Kitchen for its fourth and final UK series in 2009. The programme originally ran for four series between 2004 and 2009, with Angus Deayton hosting the first three.
The potential return follows comments from Gordon Ramsay earlier this year indicating that he was discussing bringing the format back to Britain. The chef said he expected a live UK version could return in 2027, although no formal commission has been announced.
Ramsay fronted the first series of the original programme before moving to the United States, where the format became a long-running television success. Gary Rhodes, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Marco Pierre White subsequently took charge of the kitchen in the UK editions.
The American version, hosted by Ramsay, has now run for more than 20 seasons and helped establish Hell’s Kitchen as an international format broadcast in countries around the world.
If the reboot goes ahead with Ramsay involved, it would be the first time he and Winkleman had appeared together on the programme. Winkleman would also need to fit the ITV project around her work on The Traitors, its celebrity spin-off and Channel 4’s The Piano.
Her possible move comes after she confirmed in July that she would not return for a second series of her BBC chat show, despite the programme attracting healthy ratings.
Winkleman said she had been “too nervous to enjoy it” and added that she might try the format again in the future, but was content with the programmes she was already presenting.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for giving me the opportunity, to the guests who agreed to come and chat to me, and the production team who were simply excellent,” she said.
