Andrew Kay: As Seen On TV

Andrew Kay is enjoying a moment in the sun

When the boss, Bill Smith, told me that he wanted me to be the new Nigella, I shivered. I mean ‘the new Nigella’, what did he mean? I had visions of an alleged drug habit, not to mention radical implant surgery and gender reassignment.

Of course what he meant was that I was to create food related programmes for our new local channel, Latest TV (which if you have missed the info is on Freeview channel 8 and Virgin 159).

I immediately went away, and dispelling the though of silicon implants, started to come up with a few ideas that I thought might make decent programmes.

First thought was International Chef Exchange, my food festival project that was launching at exactly the same time. Bill gave me the go ahead and off I went, naive in so many ways but accompanied on the journey by my far more experienced colleague, Andy Nichols. Andy is a vegetarian so he also provides me with great opportunities to poke fun, which has for the last two years given balance in a working relationship where he knows so much and I knew nothing.

ICEx screened last night for the first time, and I went out to the pub. Somehow I could not bring myself to watch its first airing live.

By 8.20pm my phone was buzzing with messages, emails and Tweets. I looked with trepidation, aware of the fact that the response could go in so many ways. Thank heavens the response was pretty positive on the whole, criticism on a technical level for a few things, but on the whole very kind.

Later that night I went to see friends and watched a recording they had made for me. It felt less exposed, for some strange reason, and I sort of enjoyed it.

And does the TV camera add 10lbs? It may well do, but 10lbs spread across the enormous continent of my whole is pretty insignificant. I didn’t think that I looked much fatter than I do in the flesh – but please, tell me if you disagree!

Tonight (forgive the time lapse that writing for a magazine incurs) my second offering will get its first screening. I’ve talked about Cook It! often on these pages, and with five episodes in the can and two more scheduled for filming in the next few weeks I feel that it is well on the way.

“Feel free to take a moment to rid your mind of that rather unpleasant image. Done? Good!”

It’s far more of a Nigella moment for me, as I put on my pinny and do a spot of cooking myself, alongside some great chefs, I have to say. Do not fear, there will be no shots of me in my pyjamas raiding a big red fridge, a) because I could not bear the weird Freudian symbolism that might follow and b) I do not own a pair of pyjamas. Feel free to take a moment to rid your mind of that rather unpleasant image. Done? Good!

So do I like making TV? I most certainly do, and watch this space; there are five more International Chef Exchange episodes and Cook It! has no end date – as yet. Plus there is even more exciting news to follow, about my… oh no, I cannot reveal that just yet.

Follow me: @latestandrew