Episode 86: Anna Haugh

Spinning Plates with Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Anna Haugh is an Irish chef at the top of her game, who runs her own restaurants in Chelsea and Dublin, and who you may know as one of the judges on

Masterchef and as a regular on Saturday Kitchen.

It was on Saturday Kitchen last year that I first met Anna, when her baby boy Oisin was just 8 weeks old. I was struck by her absolute joy in motherhood and when we spoke recently I learned how Oisin was a much longed for IVF baby. Anna told me she is generally good at appreciating the here and now, and about the thrill that she gets to this day when she walks past her little boy’s blue coat hanging in the hallway, reminding her that she is now a mum.

Anna also told me how much she has always loved her stepson Henry, now 18, who she first met when he was 11, and how it was Henry who chose her little son's first and middle names.

She also shared that she may be only 5ft 4, but she studied body language to learn how to give direction in kitchens where she’s often surrounded by men who are all physically much bigger than her, without confrontation. Her top tip is that you own the space where you stand, no matter how tall or short you are. And she really believes in kindness in the kitchen.

I love Anna’s ability to see the positive side of life and the way her personality comes out in the atmosphere of her restaurant and on screen. I also love the sound of the cake-loving little Oisin!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones

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