Fanny Cradock beaten by Jamie Oliver in celebrity chef vote

It seems its pukka power that’s won the day as Channel 4 telly chef Jamie Oliver has beaten the legendary BBC star Fanny Cradock to ‘best television chef’ in a Freeview poll.

It isn’t all bad news for fans of the late Fanny Cradock, who wowed audiences with her cooking, clothes and cutting remarks to hubby Johnny on their long running BBC TV series’, she is still more popular than MasterChef’s Greg Wallace.

Fanny and Johnnie were Britain’s first celebrity cookery stars appearing on chat shows and even ATV game show Celebrity Squares (pictured, above) such was their popularity with the public. But by the 1980s Fanny’s old style presenting format seemed out of date, new younger and maybe not trendier cooks had taken the spotlight such as Delia Smith and Keith Floyd.

“When it comes to our all-time favourite TV foodie Jamie Oliver, who first appeared as the Naked Chef in 1999, came top (15%), ahead of Gordon and Delia in equal second place (11%) while Nigella rounded off the top five with 4% of votes – 84% of which came from men.”- Freeview statement

The research also revealed that when it comes to cookery inspiration, Brits are now turning to the TV just as much as recipe books (both 39%) with 15% of us under the age of 45 taking inspiration from programmes we are watching, rather than picking up a recipe book to cook a decent meal.

Top 10 Telly Chefs

1. Jamie Oliver (15%) (pictured, above)

2. Gordon Ramsay (11%)

3. Delia Smith (11%)

4. Keith Floyd (8%)

5. Nigella Lawson (6%)

6. Mary Berry (4%)

7. Heston Blumenthal (4%)

8. Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall (4%)

9. Rick Stein (4%)

10. Fanny Craddock (3%)

The poll also found MasterChef the nations most favourite cookery show, as reported earlier today.

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Research conducted by Populus amongst 2,000 adults (18yrs +) from 12th – 14th April 2013.