Phil Vickery suffers epic cooking blunder as fire breaks out on This Morning

This Morning chef Phil Vickery was left red-faced on Wednesday's show after suffering an epic blunder in the kitchen.

The 60-year-old was in the ITV studio to cook up some homemade peri-peri chicken and rice for hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford.

Phil's choice of dish followed the news that Nando's has had to shut 50 branches after running out of food with other outlets forced to open with reduced hours.

The restaurant chain, known for its spicy peri-peri chicken, said the problem was due to staff shortages with its suppliers.

It has since also cancelled its delivery options, citing a shortage of ingredients, and a lack of staff due to the ‘ pingdemic ’.

This Morning chef Phil Vickery was left red-faced on Wednesday's show after suffering an epic blunder in the kitchen (ITV)

As Phil set about marinading chicken, he chatted away to Eamonn and Ruth - who already had the cooked food in front of them.

At one point, Phil explained how he had cooked the big pot of rice and removed the lid using a tea towel.

However, as he placed the lid on the hob, he left the tea towel on top and it ended up catching fire.

Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes were tucking into chicken and rice when the fire broke out (ITV)

When Phil finally noticed, he quickly picked the tea towel up and said: "Got a bit of a...." as Ruth butted in: "Ooohhh hello, fire situation!"

"Don't worry about that, nothing to see there," Phil quickly added, as Ruth continued: "Oooooh tea towel on fire, nothing to see here!" before asking him: "Have you stamped on it?"

"It's out, don't worry," Phil replied as he continued with the cooking segment calmly.

Elsewhere on Wednesday's show, Ruth was left gobsmacked after watching footage of a man saving a zookeeper from a horrific alligator attack.

Elsewhere on Wednesday's show, Ruth was left gobsmacked after watching footage of a man saving a zookeeper from a horrific alligator attack (ITV)

At the start of the ITV show, Ruth and Eamonn spoke about the incredible moment that fearless zoo visitor Donnie Wiseman jumped to the rescue.

Lindsay Bull, a 31-year-old handler, was rushed to hospital after the creature suddenly turned during feeding at the Scales and Tails experience.

It bit her hand and pulled her into the water at the reptile show in West Valley City, US.

Donnie was brave enough to run over and intervene, and managed to get on top of the animal and save Lindsay - while his wife Theresa filmed the entire ordeal.

This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.