CHEF TRAGEDY
Masterchef star forced to quit Michelin-starred chef job after being diagnosed with terminal cancer aged 54
Andrew Fairlie's restaurant at the Gleneagles Hotel was awarded two Michelin stars, but he now says he can't go on
A TOP chef behind Scotland's only two Michelin star restaurant has revealed that he's quit the kitchen - as he continues to fight terminal cancer.
Andrew Fairlie, 54, helped create one of the UK's top restaurants at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire back in 2001.
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The plush Restaurant Andrew Fairlie regularly attracts guests from all over the world.
But now the 54-year-old from Perth has said that he's quit the kitchen for health reasons after battling the illness since 2005.
Andrew says that he bid an emotional farewell to his beloved venue as he fears he would be a "liability" because of his brain tumour, which is now entering its terminal phase.
He told : "Giving up my restaurant kitchen was the hardest part of all.
“I gathered the staff and told them I was stepping down.
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"The fact that I’ll never be back, never have that buzz and atmosphere of the kitchen again, was very emotional.
“But it’s dangerous for me to be there. I’d just be a liability if I kept hanging around.”
Andrew revealed that he was discharged from the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow in June after being told there was no further treatment available.
He now wheres leg splints to prevent him stumbling and uses a wheelchair for outings.
Andrew has now opened up about his treatment and the effect it's had on him and his fiancee Kate.
He said: "It’s getting harder to cope with my mobility and fatigue and I’m getting weaker and weaker.
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“But I feel very peaceful.
“I always knew it was going to be terminal, but walking away from the Beatson suddenly made it very real.
"They just showed me the scan and told me there was no point in staying on chemo.
"That’s when Kate and I asked, ‘Surely that can’t be it?’”
He's now planning on marrying Kate, who he has lived with for ten years.
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And she revealed that he popped the big question in an unusual place.
She told The Times: “He proposed in the car park at Ikea.
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“How romantic is that?
"But our love has become stronger than we’ve ever known and we have a closeness that is unfathomable.
"It’s now about making every day gorgeous and making nice plans.”
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