Si King, cook

Si King, cook

From Desert Island Discs by BBC Radio 4

April 25, 2026 · 50 min

About this episode

Si King discusses his life as a cook and broadcaster, sharing stories of his upbringing and career.

Si King is a broadcaster and cook, best known as one half of the duo The Hairy Bikers. Together with his onscreen cooking partner and real-life best friend Dave Myers, the pair travelled over 650,000 miles around the world on motor bikes filming their cooking exploits and they also wrote a number of bestselling cookbooks. Si was born in a pit village near Gateshead, the youngest child of three. His father had served in the arctic convoys and had met his wife whilst on shore leave in Newcastle when she was singing with a big band. Si’s father died when he was eight years old and Si and his mum, Stella, bonded by cooking together which led to his lifelong appreciation of food. His love of motorcycles started early when his uncle introduced him to his garage full of broken motorbikes that he enjoyed tinkering around with. Si fell in love with motorbikes and as a teenager used to give him mum a lift back from the shops. After leaving school, Si played drums in a band to earn a living, during which time he met his former wife, Jane. He became a father at 23 and soon began his television career as a runner on the children’s series Byker Grove. This opened the door to work in TV and…

People in this episode

Guest: Si King

Topics covered

  • cooking
  • motorcycles
  • broadcasting
  • friendship
  • personal history

Keywords

  • Si King
  • The Hairy Bikers
  • cooking
  • motorbikes
  • personal story

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Hairy Bikers, BBC Radio 4

Books & works: Byker Grove, Catherine Cookson

Places: Gateshead, Newcastle

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