Television chef Ross Burden has passed away, aged 45. The New Zealander’s death comes following a battle with leukaemia.
New Zealand-born Burden found fame in the UK in 1993 after he appeared on MasterChef.
Following his turn on the show, he made regular appearances on Ready Steady Cook, the popular daytime cooking show from the BBC which ran from 1994 to 2010. He also co-wrote a series of best-selling books with fellow presenter Ainsley Harriott.
The chef returned to New Zealand from the UK in 2010 and continued to work in TV presenting, hosting the country’s MasterChef programme. He was diagnosed with leukaemia last year, and died this month after contracting an infection during a bone marrow transplant.
Speaking to The New Zealand Herald, his sister Kirsten said that Burden was close to completing a Masters in Maori Studies at Auckland University at the time of his death.
She said: “He’s just a friendly, compassionate guy – nothing was too much trouble. He was my big, fantastic incredible, larger-than-life brother.
“Right up until probably a week-and-a-half ago, he was making his next lot of plans. He had the world map out.”
