He may consider himself to be a nerd, but Issa Schultz made some unexpected friends during his time on Hell’s Kitchen.
Chatting to TV WEEK, The Chase star says killer cooking skills isn’t the only thing he gained while on the show. He made some great friends in the process, too.
“I still text Sam (Frost) all the time,” Issa reveals.
“She’s a really lovely, really thoughtful and down to earth person. No ego there at all. She just wants to live life and have fun and bring joy to others and I think she’s doing a great job at that.”
Issa can also count former Rugby League star Willie Mason as one of his closest mates now.
“I thought I would bond with him the least on the series, and how wrong was I? His sense of humour is fantastic.
“We were having conversations about world history and all kinds of things. Can you imagine that? Between an NRL player who could pulverise me at the drop of a hat, break all my bones if he wanted to and a super nerd from The Chase – we actually found we had a lot in common.
“That’s what made it all more enriching because we all just bantered and joked and had lots of fun along the way.”
Of his decision to go on the show, Issa says he immediately regretted saying yes straight away.
“I thought, ‘Why did I do this,’” he laughs.
“But I didn’t want to pull out because I would have felt rude. When the day came, I hardly slept at all the night before.”
Despite his initial concerns, Issa is now glad he did it.
“It really was the best thing I’ve ever done and the most enjoyable thing I’ve don’t in my whole life,” he says.
“It sounds like an exaggeration, but it really is. This was so great and I was sad when it all wrapped up as all thing do. All good things come to an end but for the moment it was wonderful.”
