THE Colchester couple who won a BBC restaurant reality TV show have given up their Buckinghamshire eaterie and plan to return to Colchester.

Michele English and Russell Clement won the chance to run the Cheerful Soul in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, in chef Raymond Blanc’s 2008 series of the Restaurant.

They opened in July last year, after months of training in Blanc’s other restaurants, including the Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons.

Blanc says the couple initially did well, but have struggled in recent months – reaching a point where the losses were too great for them to carry on.

Michele, 32, said the couple were now desperate to return to Colchester and hoped to open their own restaurant in the town.

She said: “We had been working 24/7, without any time to even call our families. We didn’t know the area, we didn’t know anybody except the staff.”

The couple lived in Colchester for eight years, before moving to Marlow and looking forward to returning, Michele said, adding: “We intend to open a place here, where we know the area well and will have all our family and friends around us to help.

“In the end we just ran out of energy to promote the restaurant in Marlow.

“One day, my mum and my uncle came in and I just burst into tears.

“In Colchester, those people will be around to provide our own support structure.”

Mr Blanc said: “I’m very sad and disappointed the Cheerful Soul was not the success we had all hoped for.

“Restaurants, of all small businesses, are particularly vulnerable to failure within their first 12 months and, despite Michele and Russell’s great ideas and incredibly hard work, the recession has not helped us.”

He said, as the couple’s business partner, he accepted some responsibility for the breakdown of the business, adding: “The good news is a third party is willing to buy the Cheerful Soul. It is hoped that they will take on all the staff when the legal formalities are complete.”

Chelmsford-born Michele met Russell, 36, nine years ago. After working in London as a chef, Russell got fed up with commuting and decided to set up a home-based catering business with Michelle in Colchester before contacting the BBC.