Chef in your ear has been made in 13 countries so far—a huge success. What’s the key?
The key to cooking formats is authenticity. Gimmicks might grab attention, but they don’t last. Chef in Your Ear has a strong central concept—top chefs guiding a novice to cook via an earpiece from outside the kitchen—but at its core, it’s about proving that most ‘novices’ can cook if they just believe in themselves. The moment I love most is the final judging: while the chefs should be staring at each other, wondering who won, the novices should be staring down at their dish thinking, OMG, I made this?!
How does set design impact the success and storytelling of a format like chef in your ear?
The set isn’t just a backdrop—it’s part of the format itself. From the start, we designed the space to serve the story. The novices are at kitchen stations, while their chefs are in sealed booths, ‘caged’ with a fixed microphone. This setup forces the chefs to be expressive in a confined space, with pedestal cameras capturing their reactions. Meanwhile, the novices move freely, with fridges deliberately placed far from the vegetables to encourage action. As a flying producer, I often remind local teams to leave enough space behind each kitchen to allow for all the running around! The swing doors at the back hint at a busy restaurant kitchen, reinforcing the narrative.
In recent years, many productions have treated sets as simple backdrops. Why has there been a resurgence of set and location as an integral part of a format?
A lot of ideas are developed in 2D—on paper or a laptop. The pandemic made this even more pronounced, with creators spending less time on set. Meanwhile, budget cuts have led to simpler, cheaper designs—many studio sets now rely on LED screens against a black background or a ‘library’ aesthetic. But in the past couple of years, there’s been a shift. Productions are realizing that set and location should be part of the narrative structure, not just decoration.
Can you share an example where the right set design made a major impact?
There are so many. The upper warehouse floor of Dragons’ Den had that intimidating start-up feel, reinforced by the grand staircase (and later, the elevator). The Chasers’ elevated throne in The Chase adds to their authority. In Race Against the Tide, the rising tide itself is a natural countdown clock. Some formats simply wouldn’t work without their set—like The Wall or Mental Samurai, where the structure is key to gameplay. A recent standout is The Floor, where the quiz plays out on a gameboard projected onto the floor. It’s visually striking, flexible for different budgets and spaces, and integral to how the game works.