It’s national vegan week so Gordon marks the occasion by cooking lentils, carrots, leeks, celeriac and foie gras. Ex-Eastenders star Martine McCutcheon learns how to sharpen a knife and Gordon learns to “keep it simple, stupid” when he challenges comedian Al Murray to make the best bread and butter pudding.

Joan Collins visits The F Word. Famously ejected from Gordon’s restaurant Aubergine along with food critic A.A. Gill seven years ago, this is the first time the two have met since. Gordon’s mum Helen challenges her son to beat her favourite recipe for apple pudding.

Gordon faces his biggest challenge yet with his ongoing campaign to get women back into the kitchen. Gordon cooks tagliatelle, and venison with chocolate: “Bambi never tasted so good.” He also travels to Scotland to try the rare and unusual delicacy of Gannet.

Can food affect a man’s fertility? Currently there’s speculation about a general decline in the sperm count and whether it can be linked to diet. To test his theory Gordon sends all the male members of his F Word brigade to have sperm count tests. And Penny Lancaster visits Gordon in the F Word restaurant to talk about her very fertile relationship with Rod Stewart.

Chat show supremo Jonathon Ross is put to the test by Gordon in the kitchen this week when he’s challenged to kill and cook lobster. “It’s alive, I’m not eating that!” he says before he realizes that Gordon is deadly serious and he has to dispatch several live lobsters and throw them into the pot to cook. The show also features Gary Rhodes, horse milk and an exclusive report on which is Britain’s healthiest supermarket.

The sexiest room in the house? “It’s the kitchen because the other places are too easy!” Nancy Dell- Olio tells Gordon when she visits The F Word restaurant this week. The programme also includes appearances from Richard Wilson and Kim and Aggie (from ‘How Clean Is Your House’), while resident food critic Giles Coren looks into the world of detox.