‘I promised myself I wasn’t going to get angry’: Oliver Peyton on Restaurant Rescue

OLIVER PEYTON could well understand why the restaurants on his new show faced disaster – their business methods drove him crazy.

Peyton And Polizzi’s Restaurant Rescue sees Great British Menu veteran Oliver team up with The Hotel Inspector’s Alex Polizzi to try to turn round failing eateries.

Restaurants serving Italian, Indian, English and pub-style cuisine called in the duo but Oliver says the experience made him break a pre-series vow.

“I promised myself I wasn’t going to get angry,” Oliver told iN10. “I didn’t want to be seen like that on television.

“But in the end I found myself saying, ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’

“There were definitely some people that had me thinking, ‘Why are we here?’ But I didn’t want them to fail.

“Sometimes in these shows the places they pick are no-hopers and Alex and I didn’t want that. We wanted them to succeed.”

The series is a family affair for Oliver as he is married to Alex’s sister, Charlotte, with whom he has three kids.

And he says they had a long-standing desire to do a restaurant rescue show.

“I’ve known Alex at least 25 years, long before she was my sister-in-law,” said Oliver.

“We get on really well but we come from completely different angles and don’t agree all the time.”

Oliver is best-known as one of the judges on BBC 2’s Great British Menu.

It has been running for over a decade now, with Oliver one of the ever-presents on the panel alongside Matthew Fort.

“I absolutely love the show. We’re just finishing off the next series and with the standard of chefs we have I think it just gets better and better.

“I really feel it’s an honour to be involved.”

Peyton And Polizzi’s Restaurant Rescue, Channel 5, Wed, 9pm.