Rylan Clark-Neal has had a fish phobia ever since he fell into a Sainsbury’s seafood counter as a youngster.
The ‘Ready Steady Cook’ host recalled the shock supermarket incident saw him come him face-to-face with a piece of "ugly" hake – and following the unfortunate fishy affair, he cannot even bring himself to "touch a fish finger".
Appearing on ITV’s ‘This Morning’, he said: "I won’t eat the fish, no…
"Just when I was a kid, I fell on the fish counter in Sainsbury’s. Have you have seen a hake up close? It is the most ugly fish I’ve ever seen, and I fell on a hake.
"You think my teeth are bad? It was right in my face. Since then, I wouldn’t even touch a fish finger!"
Rylan is the new host of the revived series – which returns to the small screen this week for the first time since 2009 – following in the footsteps of previous presenters Fern Britton and Ainsley Harriott.
The 31-year-old star made sure he gave his predecessors a ring once he got the offer, to ensure he had their blessing.
He added: "When they asked me to do the job, the first two people I called were Fern and Ainsley. I had a lovely chat with Fern, and I think Fern was more excited for me than I was at that point. She was so lovely!
"I was a little bit worried about calling Ainsley, because, although I’ve met Ainsley a load of times here, to me, Ainsley was ‘Ready Steady Cook’ when I was growing up.
"Everyone knows him so well for that show. I rung him, I was in Manchester at the time, and he was so lovely."
Ainsley – who took over the role from Fern after six years in 2000, and hosted until the show went off air a decade later – also had some words of advice for the new host.
Rylan said: "He went, ‘Just go and make it your own, enjoy it, you’re going to love it’. He just said, ‘Put you into it, because the show runs itself’. It really, really does – it’s not about me."
Rylan Clark-Neal has fish phobia after Sainbury’s accident
