Worrall Thompson was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. His parents, Michael Ingham (real name Peter Michael Worrall Thompson)[1] and Joanna Duncan, were both actors.[2] He was educated at the King's School, Canterbury, where he sustained facial injuries while playing rugby. He had to wait until he was twenty-one years old before he could have plastic surgery to correct the disfigurement. As a child he suffered from rickets.[3]
Prior to opening his first restaurant, Worrall Thompson was Executive Chef at 190 Queens Gate in South Kensington, London. He opened his first restaurant, Ménage à Trois, in Knightsbridge in 1981, notable for only serving starters and puddings. He then launched several successful restaurants, including Wiz and Woz in west London and Metro in Jersey.[citation needed] Until late 2006, he was Catering Director for Old Luxters Barn, in Buckinghamshire.[citation needed]
In February 2009, his restaurant holding company AWT Restaurants was placed into administration. Four restaurants closed – the Notting Grill in west London, the Barnes Grill in south-west London, together with two pubs in Henley-on-Thames, the Lamb Inn and the Greyhound. This caused the loss of 60 jobs. Worrall Thompson personally bought back the remaining Windsor Grill in Berkshire, the Kew Grill in south-west London, and a delicatessen, the Windsor Larder.[citation needed]
It was reported in April 2009 that Thompson's restaurant chain difficulties were the result of being "overstretched" and that his restaurants "had debts of more than £800,000 and owed 214 creditors money."[4]
Named Anthony at birth, he dropped the 'h' in his teenage years and has omitted it ever since. His reasoning is that the 'h' is not pronounced so adds little value to the name.[citation needed]
Worrall Thompson married Jill Thompson when he was 26; the couple divorced five years later. In 1983, he married an Australian, Militza Millar. The couple had two children and divorced. Since 1996, he has been married to his third wife, Jacinta Shiel. The couple live in High Wycombe and have two children.[citation needed]
Worrall Thompson is a patron of FOREST,[7] a UK-based, tobacco industry-financed lobby opposing government regulation of tobacco and ASH. In February 2010, in a feature for Radio 4's Woman's Hour, he said that he had given up smoking.[8]
↑ Cooke, Rachel (19 January 2003). "The real naked chef". Observer Food Monthly. London. Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
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