Available to book
Nigel Barden hosts food and drink events with the warmth and polish of three decades in broadcast. A BBC food and drink correspondent and chairman of judges for The Great Taste and World Cheese Awards, he brings festivals and awards nights to life.
Nigel Barden is a British food and drink broadcaster and host, known to millions through three decades on BBC Radio 2 and now Greatest Hits Radio's Drivetime Show. He spent twelve years on air alongside Simon Mayo and Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2, and continues exploring food with Robert Elms on BBC Radio London.
Nigel chairs judging panels for The Great Taste Awards, World Cheese Awards, and Farm Shop & Deli Awards, and hosts the National Fish and Chip Awards and the Ice Cream Alliance Awards, bringing the same ease to live tastings, awards dinners, and festival stages that he brings to radio. He spent sixteen years fronting the Stand Fast Awards for William Grant & Sons at venues including Blenheim Palace and Barnbougle Castle, and regularly hosts chef demo stages at Tom Kerridge's Pub in the Park festivals across the country. He is also a BBC rugby commentator and a trained actor.
In Nigel, audiences and clients get a host who can hold a room for six hours at the Virtual Cheese Awards, draw warmth and detail out of any interview, and bring genuine expertise in provenance and artisan production to every event he fronts.
Book Nigel when an event needs warmth, credibility, and a real love of food and drink.
Topics, sessions and talks
Nigel Barden has spent sixteen years hosting the Stand Fast Awards for William Grant & Sons at venues including Blenheim Palace and the Hurlingham Club, alongside the National Fish and Chip Awards and the Ice Cream Alliance Awards. He keeps a room moving through course changes, sponsor moments, and award reveals without losing energy, drawing on decades of live broadcast experience. Clients get a host who reads a room quickly and keeps the evening feeling personal rather than scripted.
Nigel Barden regularly hosts chef demo stages at Tom Kerridge's Pub in the Park festivals and other foodie festivals across the UK, interviewing chefs live in front of festival crowds. His background as a wine merchant and food broadcaster means he can talk technique, provenance, and flavour with genuine authority. Audiences get an interviewer who keeps chefs relaxed and pulls out the stories behind the dishes.
Nigel Barden hosts live and online cheese and wine tastings, often linking up with tasters based abroad, drawing on his own background as a director of Yorkshire Fine Wines and as chairman of judges at the World Cheese Awards. He has fronted the Virtual Cheese Awards as a six-hour live event for four years running. Guests come away with a genuine understanding of provenance and pairing, guided by someone who judges the category professionally.
Nigel Barden brings three decades of BBC broadcast experience to corporate and event hosting, from twelve years on Radio 2 alongside Simon Mayo and Chris Evans to his continuing role with Robert Elms on BBC Radio London. He is comfortable holding a microphone for hours, whether presenting live, interviewing guests, or improvising around a running order. Clients get a genuinely warm, quick-witted presenter who keeps an audience listening from the first minute to the last.
Nigel Barden spent twelve years on BBC Radio 2 and chairs judging panels for the Great Taste Awards and World Cheese Awards. He has hosted the Stand Fast Awards for sixteen years and fronts chef demo stages at Pub in the Park festivals nationwide, pairing broadcast polish with food industry authority.
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frequently asked questions
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To book Nigel Barden, email nigel.barden@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Nigel's availability and speaking fee. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and about your audience.
Nigel Barden structures live events around his role as a practitioner in the field he is hosting — chairing judging panels at the World Cheese Awards and Great Taste Awards, working as a wine merchant, and spending three decades as a food broadcaster — which allows him to conduct chef interviews, tasting sessions, and awards ceremonies with subject-matter authority rather than a generalist presenting style.
Nigel Barden's sessions cover awards ceremony hosting, chef demo stage hosting, and cheese and wine tasting. He spent three decades as a food and drink broadcaster on BBC Radio 2, chairs judging panels for the Great Taste Awards and World Cheese Awards, and has hosted the Stand Fast Awards for William Grant & Sons for sixteen years at venues including Blenheim Palace.
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