Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 cooking show

Cooking show

A TV cooking show is a television program that presents the preparation of food, in a kitchen on the studio set. The host of the show, often a celebrity chef, prepares one or more dishes over the course of the show, taking the viewing audience through the food's preparation showing all...

 starring Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....

. Originally conceived as a one-off episode, Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 later commissioned a full series for late 2008. A Christmas special is to air live on 25 December, 2011.

Background

The original episode was part of The Big Food Fight, a January 2008 promotion featuring Channel 4 shows starring Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver

James "Jamie" Trevor Oliver, MBE , sometimes known as The Naked Chef, is an English chef, restaurateur and media personality, known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more recently his campaign against the use of processed foods in national schools...

, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a British celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer and "real food" campaigner, known for his back-to-basics philosophy...

 and Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....

. On live television, Ramsay invited the entire nation to prepare a three course meal for four with him in just under 60 minutes Ingredients and instructions were available on the official site to help viewers prepare for the event at home.

The show was expanded to a seven episode series for autumn 2008, and began on 24 October 2008. Each week Ramsay prepared a themed menu ranging from curry night to a 1970s theme.

Episodes

Episode Number	Air Date	Guest Sous Chef	Notes
1		Patsy Kensit Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Francis "Patsy" Kensit is an English actress, singer, model and former child star, known for her television and film appearances. Her films include Lethal Weapon 2 and she has been married to rock stars Jim Kerr and Liam Gallagher, as well as herself fronting the band Eighth Wonder...	Warm goat's cheese salad, Salmon en croute, Rhubarb and ginger crumble
2		Johnny Vegas Johnny Vegas Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...	Theme: credit crunch-proof meal for under a tenner
3		Amanda Holden Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden is an English actress and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award...	Angel Hair Pasta with Crab, Duck Breast with a Port and Cherry Sauce , Quick Tiramisu
4		Kirstie Allsopp Kirstie Allsopp Kirstie Mary Allsopp is a British TV presenter known for the Channel 4 property programmes: Location, Location, Location; Relocation, Relocation; Location Revisited; The Property Chain; Kirstie's Homemade Home and Kirstie's Handmade Britain...	Theme: 70's Night
5		James Corden James Corden James Kimberley Corden is an English actor, television writer, producer and presenter. He is co-creator and star of BBC comedy shows Gavin & Stacey and Horne & Corden, and acted in the 2009 film Lesbian Vampire Killers....	Theme: Chinese - sour prawn soup, stir-fried beef with peppers and egg noodles, hot bananas
6		Alan Carr Alan Carr Alan Carr is an English comedian and television personality. Born in Weymouth, he was raised in Northampton before moving to Manchester during his early 20's....	Theme: Curry Night
7		Gok Wan Gok Wan Gok Wan is a British fashion consultant, author and television presenter of British Chinese heritage. He is known for his appearances on many television programmes , for providing fashion advice to celebrities and for contributing his views to fashion magazines published internationally.-Early...	Theme: Christmas Dinner; Torchwood Torchwood Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from... 's Naoko Mori Naoko Mori is a British-Japanese actress known for roles as Sarah, Saffron's "odd" friend in Absolutely Fabulous, Mie Nishikawa in Casualty, and Toshiko Sato in Doctor Who and Torchwood.-Early life:...  makes an appearance as one of the guest Gok is cooking for.

Christmas Special

A Christmas special is to be broadcast live on 25 December, 2011. It will see the Ramsley family all cookalong from their home. It will be a Tv first for the UK.

International versions

An American version of the same name, also hosted by Ramsay, aired as a one-hour special on the Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 network on 15 December 2009. Guests included Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...

, Cedric the Entertainer

Cedric the Entertainer

Cedric Antonio Kyles , known professionally by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American actor, comedian and director...

, Alyson Hannigan

Alyson Hannigan

Alyson Lee Hannigan is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Willow Rosenberg in the cult classic television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Michelle Flaherty in three American Pie films, and Lily Aldrin on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother.-Early life:Hannigan was born in...

 and Leann Rimes

LeAnn Rimes

LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...

, with home cooks featured live via Skype

Skype

Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...

. The three course meal shown on the U.S. premiere was identical to episode 3 of the original British series.

In September 2008, an Australian version was announced for airing on the Nine Network

Nine Network

The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...

, also hosted by Ramsay. However it never eventuated.

Optomen and One Potato Two Potato licensed the Cookalong format for Swedish television. Tina's Cookalong starring Tina Nordström

Tina Nordström

Tina Nordström is a Swedish celebrity chef, television personality, and pitch lady from Helsingborg, Sweden....

premiered in September 2009, with Ramsay appearing as a guest.