In 2003 James Tanner became the latest recruit to the ever-popular TV series Ready Steady Cook, joining the regular team of celebrity chefs on the BBC 2 show that’s now in its 10 year.

The third of four brothers, James was brought up in Kent, and was taught to cook by his mother. After finishing school he studied Hotel Management and then worked in the kitchens of several well-known restaurants, often with his older brother Chris. He worked his way up through the ranks until he was invited by the Roux Brothers to move to the US and work in upstate New York, where he was chef de partie at the Lake Placid Lodge, a Relais et Chateau. Within four months he was promoted to junior sous chef, and then transferred to the prestigious Point. On returning to England James worked for the two star Michelin restaurant Lettonie in Bath, for the respected chef Martin Blunos. By now, James was ready to run his own kitchen and moved on to be head chef at Right on the Green in Kent. His success there was measured by a strong local following who needed to book weeks in advance for a table at the weekend.

In 1999, aged 23, James and his brother Chris realised their boyhood dream of owning and operating their own establishment and they opened Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth. The restaurant is in a Grade 1 listed building that is the oldest in the city and was a medieval priest’s house. However there’s nothing old fashioned about the menu which is mainly modern British with Continental and North American influences. Everything from bread to petit fours is made fresh each day with a great emphasis upon seasonal local produce and in just five years it has become one of the best known restaurants in the South West.

James' television career began in 2001 when he and Chris made their first TV appearance on Carlton TV's Food Network Daily. Then in October 2002, they entered UK Food's Chef Star competition, coming second. One of the judges, Ainsley Harriot, recommended the brothers to Ready Steady Cook and shortly afterwards James was invited to enter the Ready Steady Cook national competition to find a new regular chef for the programme, with the viewers voting for their choice - James was voted winner!

James continues as a regular for Ready Steady Cook and is a frequent guest on BBC's Saturday Kitchen and Great Food Live for UK Food. More recently James and Chris filmed their own 15 part series The Tanner Brothers , broadcast on the Carlton South West region during December 2003. This series was taken up by  UKTV Food Channel in January 2004 and by Westcountry TV. James also appears as guest chef on This Morning (ITV1).

Once released from the kitchen James has a wide range of outdoor interests, from cars to snowboarding.  He developed his passion for the latter while in America, and has a need to ride the snow at every opportunity.   Another surprising talent is acting, and he played Valentine in a short film called In Valentine's Day .  Filmed by media students from Mid Kent College, the film won a BAFTA award and was released in British cinemas supporting Beverly Hills Cop 2.

James has written his first book, along with his brother Chris, titled Chocolate Lovers’ Cookbook, which has just been published by Jacqui Small Books.

A former chef and cookery demonstrator, Lesley’s lively personality makes her a popular television cook and a regular member of the team on Ready Steady Cook (BBC 1), and a frequent guest on Good Food Live  (UK Food Channel) and This Morning (ITV1).

She studied French Cuisine for three years at Ealing College, which included time as a chef at the Waldorf Hotel.  During this training period, she won one gold, and two silver medals at Hotelympia and was awarded a scholarship to the Hotel Intercontinental, Dusseldorf.

In 1978 Lesley joined Prue Leith’s Restaurant and was quickly promoted to position of senior chef.  She then worked as a freelance corporate chef and caterer for government officials before joining Leith’s School of Food and Wine as an instructor, rising to head teacher.  Here she perfected her cookery demonstration and food photography skills.  She often represented British food at international cookery displays, taking as her theme ‘good food for health’s sake’.

She has worked in television since 1989.  In addition to GMTV and Bazaar her work has included writing and presenting a series of network Cookery Club programmes for Chrysalis TV, resident cook for Lifestyle Channel and currently for UK Living.  In 1992 she teamed up with Malcolm Gluck to present the Superplonk video, the guide to 101 top supermarket wines, produced by Chrysalis.

During 1994 she co-presented a 12 part TV series for Anglia about healthy living, called Bodyworks.  She was one of the major presenters of Can’t Cook Won’t Cook and is a Ready Steady Cook regular. In 1999 she completed the incredibly successful Ready Steady Cook Roadshow playing to packed theatre houses across the UK. Lesley also co-presented Surprise Chefs for the Meridian region and has guested on Food & Drink, flying to Thailand for the programme to record a number of Thai cooking demonstrations, Celebrity Ready Steady Cook, Light Lunch and the BBC daytime show Who’ll Do The Pudding.  She was also the resident chef for the annual BBC Primetime Show Weight of the Nation. She has recorded three of her own series for Carlton Food Network, Real Food, Flavours from Abroad and First Taste.

Lesley has written a number of books including Fifteen Minute Feasts for BBC Books, Four Seasons Cookery for BBC Books, Sainsbury’s Quick and Easy Food for Friends (Martin Books, 1995), Weight Watchers Carefree Christmas (Simon & Schuster, 1996), Ready Steady Cook Book 3 (BBC Books, 1997), and Weight Watchers Store Cupboard Cookery (Simon & Schuster, 1997).  These were followed by Classic Starters and Juice Up Your Energy Levels both for Orion and The Essential Pasta Book for Weidenfeld & Nicolson.  Broader Than Beans a major vegetarian cook book was published by Headline in 1998 and the follow up Cooler Than Chillies was published 2000.  Her last book New To Cooking was published by Ryland, Peters and Small in 2001 and a new book for Sainsburys Healthy Simple Ways to Success was published in September 2003. She has also launched a series of paperback cookbooks with food retailer Julian Graves.

In 2004 Lesley started her own cookery school based in her Dorset home.