'I worked with top celeb chef and refused to bow down to him – I'm not having it'
EXCLUSIVE: The iconic chef is at the heart of ITV's newest reality show, hosted by Olivia Attwood.
Celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli is at the centre of ITV’s latest reality show, where he will help shape a group of up-and-coming chefs in a luxe Barcelona restaurant. But several of those budding chefs have already revealed what Novelli was like off-camera while filming The Heat, hosted by Love Island icon Olivia Attwood.
The show, set in Spain, sees a group of 10 young chefs from around the UK launch The Heat restaurant, learning new cooking and business skills alongside Jean-Christophe. Outside of the kitchen, there’s plenty of drama going on – everything from love triangles to fall-outs, making it a blend of Hell’s Kitchen, Below Deck and Selling Sunset.
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At the heart of it all is Jean-Christophe Novelli. The French chef first moved to Britain in 1983, founding his iconic Clerkenwell venue Maison Novelli in 1996. He’s made numerous TV appearances over the years, landing a job as judge on MasterChef Australia in 2024 and starring alongside Raymond Blanc on various ITV shows.
So what’s he like behind the scenes?
The Heat contestant Djordje, a chef hailing from Wakefield, confessed in an exclusive chat with the Daily Express that he began to see Novelli as a “father figure” – though he could definitely be “scary”.
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He said: “I never let him walk over me. I’m quite boisterous. If [anyone] tries to tease or bully me I’m not having it.”
Djordje confessed that having to “bow down” to Novelli rubbed him up the wrong way, and shouting “yes, chef!” in the kitchen felt unnatural.
But off-camera, everything was a lot different. He confessed: “Jean-Christophe said to me off-camera, ‘At the end of the day, it’s TV. I’m putting on a character, you’re putting on a character’.”
He added: “I hope we do meet in future and cross paths.”
