Discover everything about Anna Haugh partner Richard Elwell — hospitality expert and co-owner of Myrtle restaurant. Explore Anna Haugh’s biography, family life, MasterChef judge career, net worth, children, and her personal relationship with Richard Elwell.
Anna Haugh is one of the most celebrated Irish chefs working in Britain today — a restaurateur, television personality, and now a MasterChef judge whose journey from the suburbs of Dublin to the kitchens of Chelsea is nothing short of remarkable. But behind every great chef is a story of personal resilience too, and for Anna, that story includes her partner Richard Elwell — a hospitality expert, co-owner of Myrtle restaurant, and the man she has built both a business and a family with.
Quick Facts: Anna Haugh at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Anna Haugh |
| Date of Birth | November 6, 1980 |
| Place of Birth | Dublin, Ireland |
| Raised In | Tallaght, Dublin |
| Nationality | Irish-British |
| Education | TU Dublin School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology |
| Partner | Richard Elwell |
| Children | Oisín Ronnie Elwell (born August 12, 2021); stepson Henry Elwell |
| Restaurant | Myrtle, Chelsea, London (opened May 2019) |
| Wine Bar | The Wee Sister Wine Bar, Chelsea, London |
| TV Roles | MasterChef (BBC), Anna Haugh’s Big Irish Food Tour (BBC One NI), Saturday Kitchen |
| Awards | Best International Chef – Food & Wine Ireland (2019); 3 AA Rosettes (2021) |
| Estimated Net Worth | $1–3 million (2025) |
| Cookbook | Cooking with Anna (2024) |
Anna Haugh Biography: From Tallaght to the Top
Anna Haugh was born on November 6, 1980, in Dublin, Ireland, and grew up in Tallaght — a working-class suburb on the city’s south side. She is the youngest of four siblings, raised in a household where food was central to daily life. Her mother, a PA at University College Dublin, was a passionate home cook with a firm belief in sourcing the finest ingredients, while her father — a FAS trainer — was always eager to try new and different dishes.
That culinary atmosphere at home planted the seeds early. Anna attended Presentation Secondary School in Terenure before going on to train professionally at the TU Dublin School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, where she completed a professional cookery course that launched what would become a distinguished career.
Her professional life began at L’Ecrivain in Dublin, working under the respected Derry Clarke. From there, she moved to Paris to train under the legendary Gualtiero Marchesi — a formative experience that broadened her palate and her ambitions considerably. Returning to London, she went on to work alongside Philip Howard and Shane Osborn at Pied à Terre, and then joined Gordon Ramsay’s team, eventually rising to become the first head chef of Gordon Ramsay’s London House restaurant. Each chapter added another layer of technique, discipline, and vision to her craft.
Anna Haugh Myrtle Restaurant: A Tribute in Chelsea
In May 2019, Anna took the boldest step of her career and opened Myrtle Restaurant on Langton Street in Chelsea, London. Named in honour of Myrtle Allen — the trailblazing Irish chef who held a Michelin star and co-founded Ballymaloe House before her passing in June 2018 — the restaurant was conceived as a love letter to Irish culinary heritage reimagined for the modern diner.
Myrtle quickly became a destination restaurant, earning three AA Rosettes in 2021 for exceptional culinary quality. The menu celebrates Irish produce and tradition, from elevated takes on soda bread and colcannon to sophisticated contemporary dishes that reflect Anna’s European training. The restaurant has drawn a loyal following of food lovers seeking something both comforting and refined.
In 2024, Anna expanded the Myrtle footprint by opening The Wee Sister Wine Bar next door — a relaxed, intimate space serving small plates and wines with a particular focus on Irish produce and wines made by Irish people around the world. The expansion underlined her commitment not just to fine dining, but to building a hospitality destination that feels welcoming at every level.
Anna Haugh Partner Richard Elwell: The Man Behind the Business
Richard Elwell is far more than simply Anna Haugh’s partner in life — he is her co-owner and business partner at Myrtle, a hospitality expert whose expertise has been integral to the restaurant’s success since its founding.
While Richard maintains a lower public profile than Anna, his role at Myrtle is a significant one. The couple’s partnership extends from the personal to the professional in a way that is relatively rare in the restaurant world, where the pressures of the industry can often strain rather than strengthen relationships. For Anna and Richard, the shared investment in Myrtle appears to have deepened both their personal and professional bond.
Richard also brings family into the mix. He has a son, Henry Elwell, from a previous relationship, and Anna has spoken warmly about how Richard’s approach to fatherhood with Henry informed his relationship with their son Oisín. The blended family dynamic — one that Anna has discussed openly — is an important part of who both she and Richard are today.
Anna Haugh Relationship Richard Elwell: A Love Story Seven Years in the Making
Anna and Richard’s journey to parenthood was not without its challenges. The couple tried for seven years to conceive before welcoming their son Oisín Ronnie Elwell into the world on August 12, 2021. When they finally announced the birth on Instagram, the post was heartfelt and joyful: “We have named our baby Oisín Ronnie Elwell. Born Thursday 12/08/2021. His big brother helped us pick the name. Oisín is strong and hungry. We are madly in love with him.”
The Irish name Oisín — drawn from mythology and meaning “little deer” — was chosen with help from Richard’s older son Henry, a detail that speaks to the warmth and inclusion at the heart of this blended family.
Anna regularly shares moments from family life on her Instagram account, giving followers glimpses of both domestic joy and the realities of raising a young child while running a restaurant and appearing on national television. She has been vocal about the pressures on working mothers, telling The Irish Times: “It’s about pushing the guilt aside, the labels that are pressed invisibly on to women’s heads. There are too many unfair expectations on women… I’ve watched many great women and men raise their children around me. One thing I learned is that a happy parent is a good parent.”
Anna Haugh Husband: Marriage, Divorce, and Moving Forward
Before her relationship with Richard Elwell, Anna was married for 13 years — a long marriage that ultimately ended in divorce around 2015. She has spoken candidly about that period, acknowledging the toll that her demanding professional life played in the breakdown of that relationship, and noting that the experience — painful as it was — ultimately allowed her to focus fully on her culinary ambitions.
Very little is publicly known about her former husband. Anna has chosen to keep that chapter of her life largely private, which is entirely understandable. What is clear is that the experience shaped her resilience and her priorities. The woman who emerged from that period of her life was someone with a sharper sense of who she was and what she wanted — both in the kitchen and in her personal life.
Her current relationship with Richard, while not confirmed as a formal marriage in all sources, is described consistently as a committed partnership — one built on mutual respect, shared ambition, and a family they have created together.
Anna Haugh Family: Roots, Siblings, and Raising Oisín
Family has always been the foundation of Anna Haugh’s story. Growing up the youngest of four children in Tallaght, she was surrounded by a close-knit household where cooking was an act of love as much as sustenance. Her mother’s commitment to quality ingredients and her father’s adventurous appetite gave Anna both the values and the curiosity that would define her career.
Today, Anna’s own family unit in London consists of her partner Richard, their son Oisín, and Richard’s son Henry — a blended family she speaks about with evident pride and affection. Balancing the demands of restaurant ownership, television appearances, cookbook writing, and motherhood is no small feat, but Anna approaches it with the same directness she brings to the kitchen.
Irish identity and family tradition remain constant threads through her work. Myrtle is, at its heart, a tribute to the women who shaped Irish cooking, and much of Anna’s culinary philosophy — celebrating simple, quality ingredients with skill and heart — traces back directly to the lessons she learned in her mother’s kitchen.
Anna Haugh MasterChef Judge: A New Chapter on the BBC
Anna Haugh’s television career has grown steadily over the years. She made her first documented TV appearance on the BBC’s The Stress Test in 2004, while working at Pied à Terre with Shane Osborn. Since then, she has been a familiar face on Saturday Kitchen, appeared on the relaunched Ready Steady Cook with Rylan Clark-Neal, and was a guest judge on Gordon Ramsay’s American series Hell’s Kitchen in 2013.
Her relationship with MasterChef deepened significantly when she stepped in as a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals, initially covering for Monica Galetti. In September 2025, the BBC announced that Anna Haugh and food critic Grace Dent would serve as the permanent judges for the 22nd series of MasterChef — a landmark appointment that marks a new era for the beloved cooking competition.
Anna’s response to the appointment was characteristic in its warmth: “I’m delighted to be back on MasterChef and judging alongside the wonderful Grace Dent, whose writing and wit I’ve admired for years.”
In early 2025, she also presented Anna Haugh’s Big Irish Food Tour — a fifteen-part cookery series on BBC One Northern Ireland — further cementing her position as a distinctive and authoritative voice for Irish food culture on British television.
Anna Haugh Net Worth: What Is She Worth in 2025?
Anna Haugh’s financial success reflects the depth and diversity of her career. As of 2025, her estimated net worth sits in the range of $1–3 million, drawn from multiple revenue streams: Myrtle Restaurant, The Wee Sister Wine Bar, her television work, media appearances, and her 2024 cookbook Cooking with Anna.
Myrtle, with its loyal clientele and prestigious address in Chelsea, remains the cornerstone of her commercial success. The addition of The Wee Sister has broadened the business model, attracting a wider audience while reinforcing the Myrtle brand. Her television profile — now elevated by the MasterChef role — adds further value in terms of media work and brand partnerships. While she is not among the wealthiest celebrity chefs in Britain, she has built a genuinely sustainable and admired culinary business on her own terms.
Anna Haugh Personal Life: Balancing Ambition and Authenticity
What makes Anna Haugh compelling beyond her credentials is the way she talks about her life — honestly, without pretence, and with a clear sense of her own values. She has navigated divorce, years of fertility challenges, the pressures of building a restaurant from scratch, and the relentless scrutiny of television — all while remaining grounded in who she is.
Her personal philosophy is rooted in Irish pragmatism: cook with the best ingredients you can find, tell the truth, work hard, and don’t let anyone define you by their expectations. That ethos runs through Myrtle’s menu, her television persona, and the way she talks about motherhood, partnership, and professional life in equal measure.
With Richard Elwell by her side — as partner, co-owner, and father — Anna has built a life that mirrors the restaurant she named after one of Ireland’s greatest culinary champions: deeply rooted, beautifully executed, and entirely her own.
