IT won’t be just a love of pies that amateur chef Alan Herron will be declaring when he appears on an ITV1 show.

The 56-year-old foodie, who was picked to make his trademark game pie with damson jelly for the channel’s new Food Glorious Food programme, used the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend Kate Harris.

The father-of-two, who lives in Barley, said he was thrilled when Kate, a 52-year-old graphic designer, accepted his Hula Hoop ring during the filming.

He said: “Kate didn't suspect a thing and I managed to set it up with the help of the production team.

“Luckily, she said yes. It would have been a bit embarrassing otherwise.

“We got a lovely hug from Carol Vorderman as a bonus.”

Food Glorious Food is a new programme by Simon Cowell and is presented by former Countdown star Carol Vorderman. The aim is to find Britain’s best-loved recipe. Alan said he was invited along to present his dish at the Harrogate Flower Show last summer. He said: “The idea was to cook something that was special to us. I live in the countryside and I cook a lot of game. There was a lot of game around at the time so I decided to make a game pie.

“All ingredients were sourced locally of course.”

The programme started on ITV1 yesterday and the episode Alan will feature in will be aired on March 13 at 8pm.

Alan said: “My theory is, I love eating and in order to love eating, you have to love cooking too.

“Kate cooks as well and at the weekends it is a bit of a scramble to see who can get into the kitchen first. I love food. I love planning it, shopping for it, cooking it and then eating it.”