Quote · The Louis Theroux Podcast
S8 EP2: Marco Pierre White discusses his rift with Gordon Ramsay, retiring from cooking, and having lunch with Margaret Thatcher
Where this was said
Nigel Farage, Margaret Thatcher, and a Lifetime of Not Voting
At 49:20 · chapter starts 47:50
The political detour begins with the tabloid headline: did Marco endorse Nigel Farage? His answer is immediate and definitive — he has never voted in his life and does not endorse anyone. Farage is a customer at his hotel in Bath, the Rudlow; he is polite and comes across as honest and clever. That, Marco insists, is all there is to say. The conversation then pivots to a far more striking political relationship: Marco's regular lunches with Margaret and Denis Thatcher. Denis was understated and supportive. Margaret, Marco found, was always more interested in your thoughts than her own — a quality he found striking in someone of such conviction. Her question to him about leadership — 'When you promote someone into a senior position, what makes you make that decision?' — prompted his answer that they must promote the company, not themselves; a principle Thatcher repeated back with evident approval, holding her finger in the air rather than pointing it.
Marco had regular lunches with Margaret and Denis Thatcher. He remembers her as always interested in your thoughts, not her own. Her question to him: when you promote someone to a senior role, what's the deciding factor? His answer — they must promote the company, not themselves — made her pause and repeat it back.
Ridley Scott signed Marco Pierre White up for a biopic with Russell Crowe attached to play Marco, but Marco eventually declined to renew the option, preferring any film to be made after his death.
Ridley Scott optioned Marco's life. Russell Crowe was cast. Marco flew to Australia and spent ten days with Crowe — everything filmed, everything recorded. Then Ridley and Russell fell out. Marco had to choose. He chose Russell. Then he declined to renew the option: better they make the film when he's dead.
