TV chef died penniless living in ‘tiny flat’ despite once owning Rolls-Royce

Fanny Cradock was once the queen of British cookery — flamboyant, feared, and firmly in charge. But decades after she ruled the BBC airwaves in a ballgown and pearls, the original celebrity chef died penniless, alone in a filthy flat, and forgotten by the industry she once dominated. With her trademark scolding voice and a wardrobe full of chiffon, Fanny was the first true kitchen TV star. She cooked up flambéed veal brains and green-dyed potatoes, all while barking orders at her monocle-wearing husband Johnnie, who stood dutifully at her side, wine in hand.

At the height of her fame, Fanny was untouchable. She had a Rolls-Royce, a boat in Cannes, and hosted glitzy parties at her South London home — which she reportedly encouraged gossip columnists to describe as “Hollywood style.” But behind the powdered face and pencilled-on eyebrows, her real life was far messier. She wasn’t legally married to Johnnie for most of their relationship — her second husband, Arthur Chapman, refused to divorce her.

Fanny had abandoned their son and fled to London, eventually marrying again in secret before that, too, was annulled.

It wasn’t until 1977, when Arthur died, that she was free to legally wed Johnnie. By then, they had already built a joint TV career — with her in charge and him reduced to her dutiful sidekick.

Her off-camera behaviour made headlines – and not the good kind. An aide recalled her once screaming at Johnnie off camera: “Don’t you ever speak to me like that again.

"You’ll be back where you came from so fast you won’t know what’s hit you I am Fanny Cradock and don’t you forget that.”

She branded the Duchess of York a “trollop”, called Margaret Thatcher “cheap”, and described Les Dawson as “an awful lump of lard who pulls funny faces. He's greasy, horrible and disgusting. I hate him.”

Fanny’s arrogance eventually led to her downfall.

In 1976, she publicly humiliated a Devon housewife on BBC’s The Big Time, mocking her menu and pretending to gag on camera. Viewers were furious. Fanny was sacked within weeks.

By the time Johnnie died of cancer in 1987, Fanny’s career had long since crumbled. She refused to attend his funeral and was left with no allies — having burned bridges with both of her sons and most of the industry.

When old friend Phil Bradford visited Fanny at her filthy, tiny flat in Chichester, West Sussex, in 1991, he feared the isolated widow was on the verge of suicide.

She died in 1994, aged 85, after suffering a stroke, living in a “filthy, tiny flat” in Chichester. Few mourners came to her funeral.

Despite the chaos, her legacy endures. Now, more than 40 years on from her sudden and public fall from grace, the BBC has put her shows online to introduce a new generation to her rainbow-coloured creations.