Food Network drops ‘royal’ chef

NEW YORK -- After rising to culinary stardom preparing impossible meals on his Food Network series, Robert Irvine has met an obstacle his kitchen prowess couldn’t overcome -- an embellished resume.

The star of “Dinner: Impossible” has acknowledged fabricating some of the more fantastic parts of his resume, including having cooked for Britain’s royal family and various U.S. presidents.

Following the revelations, the network announced it would not renew Irvine’s contract, though it would air the remaining episodes of the current season, the series’ fourth.

“I was wrong to exaggerate in statements related to my experiences in the White House and [with] the royal family,” Irvine said. “I am truly sorry for misleading people and misstating the facts.”

The Food Network said it might revisit its decision at the end of this season, but for now would begin searching for a new host for the series, which challenged Irvine to cook under arduous conditions.

Irvine, who is from England, first acknowledged the fabrications in a Feb. 17 story in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times.