Gordon Ramsay has landed his first ever prime-time BBC show.

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay

The 52-year-old chef - who has fronted a number of programmes on ITV and Channel 4 over the years - has signed up to front a new cooking competition, which has the working title of 'Step Up To The Plate'.

A source said: "It's a great coup for the BBC to pinch Gordon from its rivals.

"The show is in its very early stages, but everyone hopes it can go from a pilot to a full series.

"Gordon is hugely popular with audiences and a household name with unrivalled knowledge of the industry."

Producers are currently looking for contestants who have the "seed" of an innovative cookery idea to pitch to Gordon for the show.

The insider added to The Sun newspaper's Bizarre TV column: "They want chefs, restaurateurs or someone developing the next big food or drink product to apply now."

Meanwhile, the chef - who has children Megan, 21, twins Jack and Holly, 19, Matilda, 17, and Oscar, five weeks, with wife Tana - is also set to team up with Fred Sirieix and Gino D'Acampo for another series of 'Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip' if the trio can co-ordinate their schedules in order to embark on another adventure together.

'First Dates' star Fred recently revealed: "We're looking at dates at the moment so if we can get it to happen we will. It was three weeks of mayhem, complete mayhem. Sleeping with [Gordon and Gino] in a camper van."

And when asked who he would rather marry or sleep with out of his two co-stars, Fred added: "What a question, I'm not sure I would marry any of them. This is a tough question.

"Maybe I marry Gordon for the money and Gino for the fun. Gino is very funny, he wants to do what he wants to do.

"It was quite extraordinary, to be three weeks on the road with them, it was exhausting, when we finished I went back to work to rest."