Chef, author and reality television judge Colin Fassnidge takes us through his life in television. 

Colin Fassnidge is a huge television fan. He watches every blockbuster TV series the moment it drops and scores every single show on his Instagram account. It’s a habit that recently caught the attention of international media. “Colin Fassnidge slams Apple Cider Vinegar,” a recent Daily Mail article ranted, after Fassnidge gave the popular Netflix drama a lowly 2 out of 10. Fassnidge has no regrets. “I thought Apple Cider Vinegar was a waste of my time. It meandered off into a world of nowhere. It could have been done in two episodes, instead of six.” 

Fassnidge would likely give a glowing 10 out of 10 rating to his new television series Off the Grid with Colin and Manu, which starts next week on TVNZ. Off the Grid sees Fassnidge and his My Kitchen Rules sidekick Manu Feildel travel around Aotearoa in a 1960s caravan named Betty, hooning off the beaten track to experience the country’s most stunning scenery and delicious food. From meat pies in Auckland to deer hunting in the south, Off the Grid is an adventure into our very best food and cuisine, and Fassnidge admits the show has been one of his dream jobs. 

“Look at where we are, two 51-year-old men hanging out in a caravan together, eating, drinking and having a good time,” he chuckles over Zoom. “It is work, but sometimes you’ve got to step back and see how lucky you are.”

Off the Grid isn’t the straight-talking Irishman’s first television show in Aotearoa. After first appearing on Australian reality cooking competition MKR in 2013, Fassnidge teamed up with Feildel to judge several seasons of MKRNZ. But what surprised Fassnidge the most about his latest jaunt around the country was how impressive the New Zealand landscape was, particularly the “windy, wild and rustic” South Island. “New Zealand was the third personality in the show,” he says. “Wherever we were, it was an amazing spot.” 

We sat Fassnidge down for an equally wild and rustic chat about his life in television, which includes an early love of cooking shows, a surprising fondness for a fancy English drama and some colourful thoughts about why MKR is better than Masterchef. 

My earliest television memory is… I was basically the remote control for my dad. I remember the TV was this brown box with the big buttons that you had to warm up. On Saturday mornings we’d get to watch whatever kids’ shows were on TV. 

The TV shows I used to love when I was younger were… Cooking shows with Delia Smith and Keith Floyd. It made me go, “I want to cook”. It was probably a bit odd, but that led me to where I am. 

The TV moment that haunts me is… In the early days of MKR, I played the bad guy. The producers loved it and they egged me on. I played the game for a year and then I was like, “that’s not really who I am”. When I look back at some of that, I’m like “ugh”. But also, if it’s eight o’clock in the morning and you have to eat terrible food, you’d be grumpy too.

My TV guilty pleasure is… Downton Abbey. That’s not very Fassnidge, is it? I watch English murder mysteries too, but that’s not very rock and roll. Downton is the world you’d want to live in if you had cash. I’m liking my White Lotus at the minute. It’s the sort of thing where you think “oh, it’s not really going to go anywhere”, and then it’ll kick off. 

My favourite moment from my own career is… Going back to Ireland to do a show called My Ireland with Colin. I was on a motorbike, and I put my mum on the back of a Ducati and drove her around. That’s something you don’t normally get to do. My mum loved it. 

The one thing I wish people knew about My Kitchen Rules is… The amount of time it takes. The New Zealand one is a lot easier to make, but the Australian one is an absolute punish. It’s at least 13 or 14 hours and we finish in the middle of the night. The New Zealand version finishes at 11 o’clock at night. They just want to go to the pub. 

With MKR, people sit at home going, “oh, you wouldn’t put the salt on now” like everyone can cook – but they can’t. Everyone knows better, and they love to see people fall on their sword. It’s easy until you have to do it. I think that’s what people like about it. It’s like Christmas dinner around the table – everyone’s nice for half an hour, and then everyone’s stabbing each other.

The most stylish person on TV is… Manu Feildel. We tried to outdo each other in outfits on MKR, and we’ve just had our fittings. He gets some nice jackets – but in real life he’s not stylish. 

The best meal I’ve ever eaten on TV was… On my show Food Diaries, I was in a yurt in Mongolia, eating a sheep that they just killed and drinking some vodka made from whey. I was in the desert going, “this is pretty special”. I’ve eaten some strange things in some strange places.

My controversial TV opinion is… MKR is much better than Masterchef. Masterchef is beige, MKR is technicolour. You never know what you’re going to get. 

The TV show I’ll never watch, no matter how many people tell me to, is… Game of Thrones. I’ve never seen one episode, because it went too long. It filmed down the road from my wife’s house in Northern Ireland, and when we went back, they were like, “do you want to go on the tour?” I had no interest.

The last thing I watched on television was… I watched Anora the other night, that was quite good. And then I watched Wolf Man, which was terrible. 

Off the Grid with Colin and Manu begins on Wednesday 23 April on TVNZ1 at 7.30pm and streams on TVNZ+.