FLYING first class and watching some of the world’s biggest bands from back stage is a dream job, but it’s not as glamorous as it sounds, Sarah Muir insists.

She may get paid handsomely, but she works 20-hour days to satisfy the stomachs of musical megastars. She is prepping at 6am before lunch after a 2pm sound-check and then dinner is served after a gig so she can still be putting away pots and pans at 2am.

Sarah has been Radiohead’s personal chef on six world tours and has also cooked for Elton John, Bob Dylan, The Spice Girls, Oasis and Robbie Williams – to name-drop just a few.

“After doing this for so long I only go if I’m offered the right price. I have got to the point where I only do the glory, I turn left on aeroplanes, not right.”

“We keep them on the stage for 18 months, we have to keep them alive,” she says. “No matter where they are, if they want to eat it we will get it, so we pre-empt everything.”

The freelance chef got her first big break more than 20 years ago in the music industry through contacts in another closed network – the pony club.

She had already been round the world once on her own and was hungry for more adventure.

But her livelihood is as precarious as being at the top of the charts so Sarah is well aware that, as a personal chef, her career could quickly go off the boil.

“You have to be the best at that time as it’s a very fickle industry. You have to be seen not to be listening into conversations and never repeat anything,” she explains.

After more than 4,000 Radiohead gigs, life on the road has become normal.

As well as travelling with her own kitchen, she brings crockery and tablecloths to create a home-from-home atmosphere with a dining room and yoga area at whichever venue they play.

“We all do yoga – the days of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll are over,” says Sarah, 50.

“It was a world of excess with Oasis but you become disassociated with what’s going on around you when you have to get up at 6am. It’s mayhem but it’s also the best job in the world.”

After growing up at the family farm at Grinkle and training at Scarborough Catering College, she returned to her native North Yorkshire four years ago, transforming an old farm outbuilding into Arches Cookery School at Grinkle Park Farm near Loftus, East Cleveland.

Day courses at the farm range from Speedy Suppers and Divine Dinners to Easy Fish and Mr and Mrs Cooks, all making the most of local produce, from game to seafood.

Although none of her famous faces have wanted to swap keyboard for chopping boards to pick up some culinary hints and tips, she was happy to be in the spotlight in front of an audience when she cooked at Saltburn Food Festival on Sunday.

“I did Japanese fusion, bringing a bit of the Orient to East Cleveland using local, sustainable fish from Lockers of Whitby.”

The guest chef did some al fresco cooking and ran a cheese-making workshop.

The festival also included live demonstrations from actorturned- cook Sean Wilson, who played Martin Platt for 21 years on Coronation Street.

Sarah said: “Saltburn’s a great town, and the festival is the perfect way to celebrate the best of some amazing food grown and produced virtually right here on our own doorsteps.

She added: “Cooking has given me an amazing life. Travelling widely means I’m able to combine some of the world’s best recipes with some fabulous local produce, something that can really ignite people’s passion for food.”