With a British upbringing, a knighthood and a career which included cooking for Charles and Diana's wedding, Robert Irvine seemed to have the perfect CV to woo American television viewers.

But that was until the celebrity chef, who had become a well known name in the United States, was exposed as having applied a little too much garnish and a distinct shortage of ingredients to his CV - and was dropped by his cable television network.

Mr Irvine's stories began to unravel after an investigation earlier this month by the St Petersburg Times, a US regional newspaper, which found that the 42-year-old, who was brought up in Salisbury, Wiltshire, had never been knighted, as he had claimed, or been offered a castle by the Queen.

Neither had he helped prepare the food for Diana, Princess of Wales's wedding to Prince Charles.

He also claimed to have worked at Buckingham Palace in Diana's travelling entourage, claims which Clarence House has so far been unable to validate.

After investigating the story, Food Network, the cable network where he had become a well-known name in the popular show 'Dinner: Impossible,' today said it would not be renewing his contract, adding that it had discovered "embellishments and inaccuracies" in his CV.

Speaking to the St Petersburg Times, Mr Irvine admitted that some of his claims had slipped out at social occasions. "When I first came down there and I met with people with all this money, it was like trying to keep up with the Joneses," he told the newspaper. "I was sitting in a bar one night and that came out. It was stupid."

Last weekend, Mr Irvine was forced to agree to apologise in a humiliating statement released by the network, as it announced that his contract would not be renewed.

"I was wrong to exaggerate in statements related to my experiences regarding the Royal Family," it said.

"I am proud of my work while serving in the Royal Navy and on board the royal yacht Britannia, also as part of the guest chef programme in the White House with the United States Navy, in addition to my culinary accomplishments.

"I should have stood on those accomplishments alone, without embellishments."

A Food Network spokeswoman said that it would not be renewing his contract.

"We looked into the situation and found that, as Robert as already admitted, there were some embellishments and inaccuracies in his resume. The few and minor incidents of the inclusion of these embellishments into Dinner Impossible have been removed," she said.

"The show is, and has always been, completely accurate in the depiction of the cooking challenges faced by Robert. We will continue airing both old shows and the new season of programs currently in production.

"We have not renewed Robert’s contract for future seasons but will fulfil our contractual obligations. We rely on the trust that our viewers have in the accuracy of the information we present, and Robert challenged that trust.

"We appreciate Robert’s remorse about his actions, and we can revisit this decision at the end of the production cycle, but for now we will be looking for a replacement host."

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