About me

One of QVC's longest-serving presenters, Julian has come a long way from his first job - selling Wagon Wheels and crisps from an orange tray at Old Trafford during Manchester United games.

Read Julian Ballantyne's full biography

Hello again!

 

Hi everyone, 

I had a fantastic time at the QVC Garden Party at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham. This year was even more special and our own Richard Jackson was on great form.

Also attending from our QVC gardening family was Paul and James from Thompson and Morgan, David from Hayloft, Claire Austin and gorgeous George from De Jäger who was melting young ladies hearts all day with his charming patter.

Hello again!

Hi guys,

It's the morning after the night before, when I have woken up with a smile. Not only is the sun shining, the blossom is blossoming and I still have the sweet sensation of Thornton's choccies in my tum. I am going to make hay, well in more accurate terms, clean the drive and the steps using the TSV from the Langdon team....it really is a winner and is really affordable.

The winning soup is..

Thanks for all you recipes and ideas, I loved them and certainly can't wait to try them all out. I have been a busy bee in the kitchen, whipping up my favourites and after much deliberation have chosen this as my winning soup!

Spicy lentil heartwarmer by Jayne White.

Congratulations Jayne! You described your delicious soup as comfort food with a kick and I loved it!

You are now the proud owner of a new Cuisinart soup maker. Someone from the home and leisure team will be in touch shortly.

Here is the recipe again:

Ingredients:

• 1 x large red onion - chopped finely
• 1 x garlic clove - crushed
• 1tsp hot chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 x large red pepper, deseeded and chopped
• 150g red lentils
• 800ml vegetable stock

Fry the onions in a little vegetable oil until soft. add the garlic and spices.

Stir in the lentils, pepper, tomatoes and stock and simmer for a couple of hours.

You can eat it as it is, but I prefer to blitz it until its nice and smooth.

 

Congrats Jayne, we will be in touch with your prize soon!

Love JB, xx

A souper challenge!

Hi all,

How would you fancy winning a brand new soup maker? Well you can with our latest competition.

We have a fantastic Cuisinart soup maker, valued at £140 to give away.

As you all know, I love things with bit of a twist, so to be in with a chance of winning, simply submit your classic soup recipes that have just that, a twist!

Please post your recipes as comments, along with your email address and we can contact you directly!

We'll select the best recipe as the winner, and if I'm able to, will also make it on air (or at home) and let you know how it went on my next blog.

Good luck,

JB x

See the full terms and conditions

The cold weather is here!

So just when we thought we might avoid the bad cold, cold weather, it's here....( Just as my pal Richard Jackson predicted lol) .

Well I have found a good way of staying warm. Staying in and improvising with whatever I have in my kitchen to make soups galore.

I use my Ninja master food processor most of the time, not necessarily for the texture, but just because we men love using gadgets.

The big move!

We are all looking forward to the 'Big Move' this year to Chiswick. Well I say" all "but just from a geographical aspect, some people will have a longer commute.

I suppose it's swings and roundabouts, because obviously some will have a shorter journey and I suppose I am pretty much an equal distance from both sites so am lucky. 

I have been at QVC for getting on for 18 and a half years now and I am sure there will be occasions which remind me of the classic Only Fools And Horses moment when Rodney, after getting married and moving out of the family flat with Del and uncle Albert, actually went without thinking to the old flat after work. 

I am convinced that I will not to be the only presenter or staff member for that point to have to really concentrate on my journey at 5.30 in the morning and not drive to work on auto-pilot as usual. 

I will certainly keep you updated. 

The big advantage from a company point of view is the fact that we are purposely building our new studios to cater for our (quite unique) requirements and as my famous granny Burrows would say, "A change is as good as a rest". 

I am really excited. I suppose it's like going to senior school for the first time, the advantage this time however is that I will be going there with all of my mates…

Jb x

My guilty pleasure

So my "guilty pleasure" has again started.  It's Celebrity Big Brother time again. Even though I always plan not to get sucked in, it is such riveting viewing and I feel the producers should be congratulated on bringing such an eclectic group, including a Hollywood Blockbuster actor in the shape of Michael Madsen, to others who are (famous) for sleeping with their husband's brother. 

I have always thought that in our pool of presenters, and certainly our guests on QVC, there would be some excellent candidates.

I have just read on Facebook that a friend of mine has actually lost 6lbs in weight since Christmas. Well to be honest, panic over, because I have located them around my middle and am seriously considering starting the Diet Chef programme or at least getting to the gym more often.

If there is any saving grace, I am keeping up with my squash and despite coming second more often than not, I think it's great fun and we have a large social game each weekend, with a great bunch of lads from various backgrounds with a round robin type affair.

Talking of Robins, every time I see one with my mum, she always says it's my granny Burrows coming back to say hello and silly as it sounds, I actually believe it LOL. My mum's come out with some classic comments over the years, one of her best was when on the phone to her, she said (quote) "I was watching you this morning love, because there was nothing on".
       

Satisfy your sweet tooth!

Hi all,

I have just finished a gardening show with, as my mother calls him, 'the lovely Richard', it remains one of my favourite shows, but I am definitely looking forward to Thursday as I will be in TV heaven presenting the Thornton's chocky hour!!

This is utopia for me because I have a huge sweet tooth and the delights of Thornton's chocolates are pretty much as good as it gets. :)

As opposed to reading which delight I am about to receive, I just pop a  random one into my mouth and wait for the surprise… I'm a huge fan of all our flavours, but am intrigued to know what everyone else's favourites are?

Maybe I'm slightly OCD when I eat, I will always eat all the chips and peas for instance before devouring the best bit (the fish). I am clearly a freaky eater but I hope you will join me Wednesday to enjoy chocoholic heaven!

Toodle pip

 Jb x

Bonfire Night..

So I knew I would get wrapped up into this whole X-factor and Big Brother stuff and true to form there I am again. I know that it is only telly but I do get involved.

It was bonfire night on Saturday or 'Bommy Night' as we would say as kids and we sat here at QVC looking over to a rather dramatic display in Battersea Park.

There were fire works on air too because The Bose Wave radio was the TSV and I have got the portable version and absolutely love it. I have turned into Debbie Flint this week and have ordered most of my Christmas presents already including slankets, plants and a bracelet - and feel very good about myself.

I hope all is well with you guys, one of my New Year's resolutions is to blog more.. I promise lol

J xx

The best man won!

Celebrity Big Brother has just finished and it was won by a lovely feller called Paddy. He is a traveller (I hope that's the correct terminology) and from the first day he was just himself.  It was a great hodgepodge of people in there though and I really enjoyed it.