Sir Robert Irvine’s Royal Fruitcake
“IT was an English fruitcake that weighed over 360 pounds,” Robert Irvine tells the Toronto Sun. “I worked on these elaborate side panels, which told the history of the royal Windsor and Spencer families – in icing!”
The temptation is to place this story in “Beyond Parody”.
When asked by a Florida socialite by the name of Wendy LaTorre how he would like to be introduced, Mr Irvine said he would like be known as “Sir Robert Irvine, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order”.
She tells the St Petersburg Times: “He said there were five levels of knights, and KCVO is the highest level of knight you could be. The Queen handpicks you.”
Mr Irvine came to host a popular US cooking show, Dinner: Impossible. He and his team of chefs work against the clock to produce food in challenging circumstances.
He has written an autobiography, Mission: Cook. He sells his own-brand cookware.
Says Mr Irvine: “When I first came down there and I met people down there with all this money, it was like trying to keep up with the Joneses. I was sitting in a bar one night and that came out. It was stupid.”
His CV was a collection of elongated truths and untruths.
Mr Irvine placed the tin lid on his alleged subterfuge when he claimed to have constructed the royal wedding cake in 1981. Did he make it all? “They made the cake at the school where I was” says he. And his role? Mr Irving replies: “Picking fruit and things like that.”
He says: “I remain committed and enthusiastic about my work with Food Network and other future endeavours. I am truly sorry for the errors in my judgment.”
A spokesman for the Food Network says: “We appreciate Robert’s remorse about his actions…but for now we will be looking for a replacement host.”
Posted: 3rd, March 2008 | In: Reviews Comments (20) | TrackBack | Permalink
