Call Iain โHueyโ Hewitson โhotโ and he just belly laughs. Yet, to his own surprise, the celebrity chef has become an unlikely sex symbol at the age of 75.
Since his recent TikTok debut, the โ90s Aussie TV favourite has won a legion of new young foodie fans. They love his crazy suspenders, walrus moustache and fun-loving chuckle, not to mention
his all-round kitchen skills.
โHahahahahaha,โ chortles the former Ten lifestyle star, astonished by his latter-day hunky status. โI reckon they need new glasses, these people. You know itโs been funny, a lot of them say I look exactly the same, that I havenโt aged a bit. God, my hairโs white these days! But I will take all the compliments, no problem.โ
According to some online commentators, Huey is a suave โsilver foxโ whose โsmooth one-liners make him a kingโ as he โcontinues to age like a fine wineโ.
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SOCIAL MEDIA SENSATION
This isnโt exactly what the former Healthy, Wealthy And Wise presenter expected when his 22-year-old daughter Charlotte urged him to give video sharing platform TikTok a go. From his kitchen at home in Melbourne, they filmed a short introductory segment and hit send.
Within 48 hours, their first effort notched up more than 500,000 views and about 60,000 followers. Now Hueyโs first three โwarts and allโ posts have received almost 1 million hits โ probably even more by the time you read this!
โBloody hell, I nearly fell off my bloody chair when Charlotte told me,โ exclaims the Kiwi-born chef, restaurateur, author, TV personality and one-time folk singer.
โItโs been interesting, thatโs the word I suppose you would use, but itโs been flattering. Very exciting and interesting and flattering. I really couldnโt believe it.โ
Huey might be blown away by his new audience but heโs also equally astonished by how many past admirers have been in contact to welcome his return.
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โWe got all these emails that say, โWe dodged out of school to watch you. We rushed home from school,โ and they had grown up with meโฆ Some of them said they even took sickies to tune in!
โA lot of them reckon I taught them to cook at home โ so I guess itโs my fault if theyโre doing it badly!โ he says with another giant guffaw that threatens to snap his fruit-patterned braces. โBut itโs nice to know I havenโt been forgotten.โ
One woman told him she thought he was dead. She was sure sheโd attended his state funeral. โFair go, I canโt imagine a Kiwi like me ever making a state funeral,โ quips the ever-affable Huey. โIt turned out to be Big Kev [McQuay], King of Cleaning, who died in 2005.โ
Unlike some other plus-sized celebrities, the host of Hueyโs TV Dinner, Hueyโs Cooking Adventures and Hueyโs Kitchen is very much alive and kicking. Whatโs the secret of his long-lived popularity?
โI remember Gavan Disney, the production guru from Healthy, Wealthy And Wise telling me, โForget all the fancy sh*t. We want uncomplicated food that people can actually cook at home without over-the-top ingredients or great culinary skills.โ
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KEEPING IT SIMPLE
โAnd thatโs the exact response weโre getting. I did a TikTok recipe for homemade mayo โ how simple is that โ and it got 400,000 hits. My mustard vinaigrette video is booming along quite happily too.
โIโm not knocking MasterChef, but itโs very rare to get a recipe on there that you rush into the kitchen to make it straight away. But my audience will knock up a simple soup or salad. Thatโs the stuff they want to know about, and thatโs exactly what Charlotte told me. Sheโs done a great job.โ
Huey fondly recalls some words of advice given to him by the late, great Bert Newton, when he was presenting Good Morning Australiaโs cooking segments.
โYou know youโre past your prime when someone comes up to you and says, โDidnโt you used to be Huey?โ Thatโs what Bert reckoned. Well, no one has done that to me as yet, thank God!โ