On the 26th Feb Andrex® and Comic Relief are hosting the Andrex® Puppy Charity Lunch in London. For the first time ever Antony Worrall Thompson will be creating menus for celebrities and lunch attendees as well as their canine companions! The celebrity chef will be bringing his two dogs along to mingle with the other attendees and the event will be hosted by the one and only Andrex Puppy. It will also be compered by Capital FM’s Sam Mann.FemaleFirst managed to have a chat with AWT just before this fantastic event to ask how his preparations for it were going. Here’s what he had to say:You must get asked to get involved with a lot of charities -What’s so special about the Comic Relief/Andrex’s Puppy Charity Lunch?Well I think the brilliant thing about Comic Relief is that the public know that for every pound they spend, a pound will go to a good cause as well. Obviously with a lot of charities so much is taken up in administration. Comic Relief don’t have that problem, because they have a lot of sponsors like Andrex, who will solve that. So 100% of the money goes in the right direction – 60% to Africa and 40% to the UK.We’ve got all the menus sorted for the lunch. We’ve got a doggy menu, which is garlicky lamb, stew with rice and carrots. And the little dogs or big dogs will be eating besides their partners on the floor beside the table. The parents and children’s menu will be roasted pumpkin soup with a parsley puree and then we’ve got Parma ham wrapped with cheese in stuffed organic chicken breasts - plus vegetables of course. A vegetarian Wellington for vegetarians and to finish a Crème BruleIt’s a good initiative by Andrex. Obviously I’m doing the doggy lunch because of the association with the Andrex puppy – the Labrador puppy that we all love. There will be five tables, which will actually be owned, if you want, by the winners of a competition that we’ve got going on www.andrexpuppy.co.uk . Also there’s loads of pack promotions going with packets of loo rolls where you can cut the voucher off the side, send in a fiver and you can get yourself an Andrex puppy complete with red nose and red t shirt. One pound seventy of that goes to the charity which is great cos that’s all their sort of profits. They’re being very generous there.

What’s your idea of food heaven and food hell?

Well food heaven – what about eating Gordon Ramsay’s food. Food hell would be eating with Gordon Ramsay. (Laughs) He gives us such a hard time that he deserves a bit back sometimes.

I believe you once toyed with the idea of trying to get selected as a Tory MP. If you were Prime Minster now, what would you do?

Oh gosh – that’s a tough one. I’d sack most of my cabinet and after that I would resign because it’s about time that he went.

I would pact all unnecessary food because I think if you want to buy ready meals and dips, I think that you should have to pay for it and with the funding that I got from taxation, I would introduce free school meals. But only compulsory school meals so everyone had to eat it and they didn’t get any choice. So once a day parents would live in the knowledge that their kids were getting a balanced nutritious meal. So I think if you give kids a choice, they make the wrong choice. I would fund organic farmers so they could compete. And I would give tax relief to mums so they could stay at home if they wanted to look after children. That’s just a few things but I’ve got loads of others.

You’re a fan of the GI diet aren’t you – tell us more…

Yeah – I’ve just brought out the diabetes weight loss diet book – but it’s all basically GI related. The Australians invented the GI diet for diabetics some years ago. It does work; it’s not a bikini diet as I call it. It’s not instant, but it is a lifestyle change really, -eating healthy and keeping your sugar levels constant. The idea behind it, although the young lady across the road here doesn’t agree with it – is that you keep feeling full. But she eats a big bowl of porridge and she has to have another one at 11am and another one at 1pm. (Laughs) But, yeah, it is a good diet generally. You’re eating slow- release foods, so your body takes a long time to break it down. So the idea behind it is that you don’t need to pick – says me grabbing another grape.

Did you ever have a pet as a child?

I only had cats when I was a child. I had a cat and a guinea pig – and the cat ate the guinea pig when I was growing up. But I’ve got dogs and cats now – and pigs and chickens. It’s a real animal farm – absolutely – it’s a good life in real life.

You appeared on a series of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2003. Certain individuals have hit out at others in the industry saying they decided to become a chef to cook, not go on crappy telly shows. Do you regret going on a reality TV show looking back now at all?

No not at all. I think it was great. It was fun and it was rewarding both for charity and for my career. No I don’t have any regrets. I would like to do something like that again, but certainly not Celebrity Big Brother.

The Ice Skating one (Dancing on Ice) would appeal to me, but I’m not too good on my own two feet, let alone two bits of steel. I would like to do that show jumping one (BBC’S Only Fools on Horses) actually, although it was a bit dull. I think it could be improved – but I was told by someone never to get on a horse unless I wanted to be like Christopher Reeve, so I’ve never got on a horse. I used to ride when I was younger and my wife is a brilliant rider, so I would love to have ridden – but I am slightly superstitious so I often think “I’m not going to test fate” – you know.

If you could choose somebody from any other series of I’m a Celeb to go back into the jungle with you, who would it be and why?

Erm god – that’s a tricky one! If it were for fun, I would probably choose Carol Thatcher or Jennie Bond because I like that attitude – the old fashioned British attitude of saying nothing’s going to get in my way dear boy! If it were for lust, it would probably be Katie Price aka Jordan. (Laughs) Well you know you got different reasons for going back into the jungle. And if was for fun and for being a lad – it would definitely be Phil Tufnell.

Do you keep in contact with anybody from your own jungle group?

Yeah, Linda Barker, she’s a great mate. Phil Tufnell and Daniella Westbrook. We keep in touch, they were a good bunch my lot. Some of them from the other series would have driven me mad.

Both your parents were actors and the legendary actor Richard Burton was your godfather. Have you never fancied following in their footsteps?

Yes – that’s right. I did think about it and then realised that they don’t make any money. I mean Richard Burton is one of the lucky ones. He made loads of dosh but generally actors do struggle unless you hit it lucky and do the Hollywood thing or cover the British films obviously. I suppose in a funny sort of way, I am performing, even though I’m not a great actor. So in a round about way we’ve done a similar career - in a way. But it’s obviously not the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Name something, which is not good for your image but what you like doing?

Antony Laughs. Oh I don’t know, I’ve got a funny image really cos in the old days I used to be a bit of a hell raiser and now I’m sort of a cuddly bear. What’s not good for my image? I’m dieting – that’s probably not good for my image, I seem to be constantly on a diet. I like smoking, that’s not good is it? But I’m giving up soon – time to do it. I only started when I was 41 years old so I was bit stupid in the first place. It was the female sex’s fault – all the girls I fancied smoked so I thought “I’ll just have a little puff at the end of a cigarette I’m sure it can’t be that bad.” Of course it was so addictive I was hooked. So I blame it on the women. No I’ve got to give up, it’s time to give up. I’m moving into a new house and I’ve vowed never to smoke in the new house, so that’s my target.

What would be your advice for someone trying to start out as a chef?

I would say don’t do if you don’t have a love for food. A lot of chefs sometimes do it cos they think they can’t do anything else and I think that’s no good. It’s a bit like nursing; you’ve got to have a bit of a passion for it because you don’t get paid a lot to start with. Another bit of advice I’d give is don’t take no for an answer really. If you want to go and work somewhere, write to them and say “I’ll even come and work for you for free for a couple of weeks, but I’m desperate to see your food and I want to learn from you.” Flatter them as well – flatter the head chef and he’ll be like putty in your hands.

Have the opposite sex and friends had a hard time handling your success, as your profile has increased over the years? Lots of people say it gets more difficult as you become more famous?

Well I think Jay’s pretty good. There are times where she gets very annoyed at the attention you get if we go out to events. The worst one is when you go with your kids to theme parks and things like that, because you just find that you can’t do it any more. You become the centre of attention instead of it being their day and they’re out for fun. Everyone’s coming up to you asking for photos or whatever. That’s pretty tricky.

And also the implications – two young ladies came up to me for a photo in Dublin outside of a nightclub. Being a friendly guy I said “oh yeah – fine.” One of them said “Can I give you a kiss on the cheek?” and she did and took a photo on her phone. However, about two or three months later, I got a phone call from Max Clifford saying "these two girls say that you took them back to a hotel and gave them a good seeing to." I said at 18 years old, I‘d be so lucky. But if I hadn’t had an alibi from the moment I arrived in Dublin to the moment I left the place, I would have been in serious trouble cos they could have got a big cheque from a newspaper, they could have paid off a hotel porter – I could have been in serious trouble. How do you get out of that one with your wife? I mean she knows that sort of thing goes on but actually that’s the nasty side of it. Generally 95% of the life is fantastic but there’s always some one out there trying to set you up. I mean I’m not going to stop hugging a girl because she asking me to hug her for a photo – because that’s the sort of man I am. You’ve got to be aware – those two girls in my opinion should have been prosecuted, because they were trying something on, but I didn’t take it any further. But it’s unnecessary and that’s the sort of voyeurism life we all lead nowadays – which is such a pity really.

14th February is coming up soon. What have been the best and worst Valentine’s Day presents that you’ve ever received?

That’s a bit risky isn’t it? (Laughs) Well it was actions rather than monetary. (Laughs) I’m being a man now tripping over my words. It’s a tricky one that – well, discovering my wife, lets put it like that. (Laughs Again) Before she was my wife. The worst one was being dumped by an old girlfriend. Although it was all meant to be in the end, cos I found a much better girl. But dumping on Valentine’s Day is not good news.

The Best Eating Experience – where would you go for a perfect meal out?

I’m a big fan of Zuma at the moment. I think for a trendy and a buzzy restaurant, it serves fantastic food, which is unusual. Often trendy-ness and good food doesn’t go hand in hand. If I’m going for a quieter night it would be River in Barnes – it’s northern Italian food. But you know my favourite is in Jamaica. I went to a little beach shack. The sun beams down and the fishermen come in with their fish still wriggling about in the boat. I’ve never tasted fresher fish – with a couple of cans of beer we were set. Very romantic in such a primitive environment. It didn’t matter – that was the beauty of it – we were just sat on these wooden benches. That’s when you can let life slip past you and you don’t need all the money. You’re just back to basics but it’s perfect.

What are your plans for the future?

I’ve got Daily Cooks and Saturday Cooks, which keep going from strength to strength. I’m helping to organise the Apprentice for Comic Relief. They’ve got a one off Celebrity Apprentice, so that’s quite fun. I’ve got several books coming out and I’m opening restaurants. Generally I’m trying to get a bit more time off but it doesn’t seem to working at the moment.

The Andrex® puppy is hosting a special Andrex® Puppy Red Nose Charity Lunch and Auction to celebrate becoming an official partner of Red Nose Day 2007. For your chance to redeem a red nose Andrex® toy puppy look out for special packs in store or visit www.andrexpuppy.co.uk