Ainsley Harriott once dodged an assassination attempt (Image: Getty)
Ainsley Harriott became a household name back in the 1990s with shows such as ‘s Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook and Ready Steady Cook. He has topped the charts as a best-selling author and in 2020 was even awarded a MBE.
His tweets still get tens of thousands of views to this day, and he has earned the status of “national treasure” – but not everyone welcomed him, and one disgruntled viewer took his hatred of the chef to extremes. The infamous Besa Mafia website was launched on the dark web, promising to organise murders for hire to those willing to pay.
According to an investigation by the , a British tech security expert was able to gain access to the computer systems behind the sinister website – and to a list of famous faces on the kill list. One of the first photographs that emerged was of Ainsley, suggesting someone wanted him dead.
People were invited to pay for hits using an untraceable cryptocurrency – but thankfully for Ainsley, it proved to be a scam. Those who had called for the murder of everyone from disliked celebrities to their own husbands and wives ended up being victims themselves, as they were cornered by the fake “killers”.
Bitcoin payments were taken for murders that never took place, and then the scammers behind the website attempted to extort more money by threatening to hand over evidence of the payers’ murderous intentions to the police. Few would feel sympathy for the scammed as their plots were foiled.
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Ainsley Harriott faced an assassination scam against him (Image: Getty)
It’s unclear whether the person nominating Ainsley had intended it as a joke, or whether he’d actually handed over money for the murder to take place.
However, security expert Chris Monteiro shared his discoveries with the Metro, detailing the moment he gained access to the unscrupulous site.
“There were many real people, but a handful of people trolling the site, taking the p*** at it being a scam,’ he reportedly revealed.
“As a result, someone had uploaded that picture of Ainsley Harriott as a joke, it was one of the first pictures we saw.”
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Ainsley Harriott on BBC’s Ready Steady Cook (Image: BBC)
He added that he’d later taken out a hit on fictional characters Bob the Builder and Boaty McBoatFace to “test their submissions system”.
Outside of the sinister world of the dark web, there was one famous opponent who was clearly joking about his intentions for Ainsley.
Pewdiepie, the world’s biggest YouTuber, “killed” a cardboard cut-out of the chef in two mock online executions.
Despite that, he remains hugely popular, with over 20,000 people signing a petition back in 2015 to have his face circulated on banknotes.