Ross Kelvin Burden (16 December 1968 – 17 July 2014) was a

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...

from New Zealand. His early career was as a model and he became a chef later in life, using cooking skills learned from his grandmother.

Career

Burden's professional television career began after he reached the final of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'' 1993. He frequently appeared on ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

'' for at least eight years, filmed a healthy-eating video with

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

, and made at least five series for ''

Taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

''. Burden published at least two books and wrote columns for two magazines. In May 2006, he appeared on '' The X Factor: Battle of the Stars'' along with fellow chefs

Jean-Christophe Novelli Jean-Christophe Novelli (; born 22 February 1961) is a French chef, restaurateur and television personality. Early life Novelli was born in Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France, in 1961. He left school at 14 and worked i ...

Aldo Zilli Aldo Zilli (born 26 Jаnuary 1956) is an Italian celebrity chef specialising in Italian cuisine, based since 1976 in the United Kingdom. One of nine children, he was born in the small seaside town of Alba Adriatica in the central Italian region ...

and

Paul Rankin Paul Rankin (born 1 October 1959 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a celebrity chef from Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland. Rankin's parents moved back to Ballywalter, where he grew up, some time after he was born. This was stated when he was ...

. In 2010, Burden judged the first season of '' MasterChef New Zealand'' with Simon Gault and Ray McVinnie.

Personal life and death

Burden was born in

Napier, New Zealand Napier ( ; ) is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lined with Norfolk pines, and extensive Art D ...

, and brought up there, attending

Taradale High School Taradale High School (Māori: ''Te Haikura o Otatara'') is a co-educational secondary school situated in Taradale, a suburb of Napier in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand. It caters for years 9–13. The school has an attendance roll of appr ...

. He studied at the University of Auckland, supporting himself with work as a model, and graduated with a degree in zoology. A self-taught cook, Burden hosted and was a guest on programmes across the world. He was once voted one of the UK's most eligible bachelors. He was gay. Burden died in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

on 17 July 2014 of an infection relating to treatment for

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. In November 2014, it was revealed Burden had died of

Legionnaires' disease Legionnaires' disease is a form of atypical pneumonia caused by any species of ''Legionella'' bacteria, quite often ''Legionella pneumophila''. Signs and symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, myalgia, muscle pains, and headach ...

due to the infected water supply in the hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burden, Ross 1968 births 2014 deaths British television chefs New Zealand gay entertainers New Zealand gay writers New Zealand gay men New Zealand expatriates in England People from Napier, New Zealand The X Factor (British TV series) contestants MasterChef (British TV series) contestants