Robert Irvine: Resumé Impossible

I wasn't going to write about this when I first read about it a little bit ago, because I don't like to harp on anyone's misfortune. (YES, it's true...other evidence to the contrary.)

But just today, I've seen 2 references to this sad affair. The first was an article in the British press (we had it here first), sent by my UK-living sister. It detailed the whole affair about Robert Irvine’s exaggerating his contact with the British royal family. I guess in Britain that’s nearly treasonous.

My second brush with Irvine today was that, just after I read that the Food Network had fired him* (or actually they “have not renewed (his) contract for future seasons, but will fulfill (their) contractual obligations to him”), I received the newest Food Network newsletter in my inbox. It featured a wonderful sounding Coconut Pudding that I had to take a look at. Guess whose recipe it is? Yup, Dinner Impossible’s Robert Irvine.

It’s rather ironic, considering they’ve banished any reference to him on their Hosts/Celebrity Chefs page. Dinner Impossible is still on the air…for now, but the FN says they’ve gone back and made sure that any references to his deceitful claims have been removed. So why include him in the current newsletter? Any intern could have substituted another recipe with a few clicks.

It’s a shame, but, of course, they had to fire him. The part that makes no sense is that Irvine was perfectly qualified and had tons of culinary experience to impress his Food Network suitors. He didn’t NEED to lie. He comported himself quite well on his show, where he went about cooking in the most extreme circumstances.

This isn’t, of course, the first instance of a high achiever lying on a resumé. But it really is insane, especially when the truth is so easy to fish out. Being knighted by The Queen is one of the easier prevarications to figure out, I would imagine.

Lying on your resumé isn’t just bad if someone finds out. It’s a spurious path you’re taking on the road to success, and it’s paved with undeniable peril and the morass of quicksand.

*This is almost as bad as banishing him to an 8 AM Sunday timeslot.