Bad boy and boy wonder are a recipe for success

YOU'D expect the heat to be on if you were asked to cook with one of the world's most notoriously volatile chefs.

But former culinary bad boy Marco Pierre White proved to be the perfect gentleman when he teamed up with Port Talbot schoolboy Jake Sawyers.

The 13-year-old was an instant hit when he first appeared on Blue Peter early last year, winning a nationwide search to become the show's resident junior chef.

And it was because of this that Hell's Kitchen star White asked Jake to join him in his own kitchen.

It's just one of the many happy memories the Cefn Saeson comprehensive schoolboy will carry with him after finishing his stint on Blue Peter, months later than expected.

Despite being severely visually- impaired, Jake wowed the judges of Blue Peter's national search for a junior superstar chef, called Can You Cook It?

Out of more than 12,000 youngsters who entered, he got through to the final — making friends with celebrity chef James Martin along the way — and was eventually named the winner.

His reward was a monthly slot on the show, cooking mouth-watering meals that youngsters could try out themselves at home.

"He started last April and it was supposed to be have been for a year," said proud mum Dawn.

"But they extended it and we did the last show in July.

"The show is coming back, but with new presenters and they don't know what is happening yet.

"We're assuming Jake has finished now — if they do ask him back it will be a bonus."

Jake, who is blind in one eye and has only 50 per cent vision in the other, was invited to join Marco Pierre White, who had opened The White Room on the super-liner Ventura.

Jake and his family flew to Portugal to board the vessel and then sailed to Spain, with Jake and Marco cooking meals for the captain over two days.

"They got on fantastically together," said Dawn.

"Marco has got this reputation, but he was a real gentleman.

"He cooked with Jake from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon and then invited us to the restaurant in the night.

"At the end he signed his bandana and apron and gave them to Jake."

The teenager also had fun on Ready Steady Cook and has supported a number of charity campaigns, including those launched by the RNLI, British Heart Foundation and Barnardos during his time on Blue Peter.

"Everyone was great with him," added Dawn.

"It has just been a brilliant experience. He's really had a ball."