Fred Siriex is extremely French. He is so French that, during our allotted 30 minutes together, I fear we may not even make it to his Consuming Passions. He has just had his garden done, you see, and — in true Fred style — is very excited about it. ‘I just had it done yesterday. How timely for you,’ he says, acknowledging Country Life’s botanically-inclined readership. ‘I'm really happy with it today, but I'm thinking about next year already.’ It is this ambition, and perhaps impatience, that I suspect has made Fred such a success.
The Maître d'hôtel is best known as the charming host of Channel 4’s First Dates. He has also hosted BBC Two’s My Million Pound Menu and has appeared on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip alongside chefs Gordon Ramsay and Gino D'Acampo. Media work, however, was something that came later in life.
He was born in Limoges, France, in 1972 to doctors for the French version of the NHS (the Protection Universelle Maladie or PUMA for short). ‘We lived 500 meters from the hospital, and so it felt as if my parents never worked, because my dad was working nights, and my mum was working in the daytime.’ Fred’s father had a big effect on him. ‘He liked to say that he was a modern man, my dad, because he used to do the cleaning, he used to make the beds, take us to school, dress us up — all this kind of stuff that a lot of men didn't do at the time.’ His parents were also ‘great entertainers’ and often had guests round for drinks and dinner parties. ‘That really informed, and started, my career in hospitality, in a way, because these are the very basics that I had from a very early age. So when I started catering college at 16 years old, I already had all this experience of how to work, and how to look after people.’
‘Professionally, I was interested in going to the UK because it was the best place for restaurants,' says Fred.
He has said in previous interviews that he feels as British as he does French, having lived here now for much longer than he did in France. The move came in the early 1990s, ‘a great time to be in the UK,’ Fred says. ‘When I was at school, I met a guy called Julien — we used to call him Julio, from Julio Iglesias because he was so tall. He could do push ups. He had a big chest, big arms — he was like God’s gift to women, and he was a very nice guy who went on to work in the UK.’ He was a couple of years older than Fred and had noticed his love of languages and aptitude for speaking English. Julien advised Fred to go to England when he was 18, and he did. He has never looked back .
‘Professionally, I was interested in going to the UK because it was the best place for restaurants. I wanted to be part of the elite of hospitality, you know, people of this SAS squad of uber professionals that travelled the world, but also because I loved England. I loved the UK, because it was so different from France. It was Sid Vicious, and the Sex Pistols. It was a packed lunch with an egg mayonnaise sandwich, crisps, orange juice and a Mars bar.’ The difference from home was what he adored. ‘When you came to the UK, you suddenly met the world.’
'I like Jake Paul, because he’s got balls. He started from nothing and he’s fighting Anthony Joshua right now. He's created an empire'
Buying himself a pinstriped suit and hailing a taxi ‘like one of those yuppies’ was the first thing on his agenda — ‘I felt like I was in The Wolf of Wall Street, or something like that.’ He was working at La Tante Claire in London, a restaurant in Chelsea owned by Pierre Koffmann that had three Michelin stars by 1993. He then went on to work at La Gavroche, Brasserie Rous and Sartoria before becoming the general manager of another Michelin-starred establishment, Galvin at Windows at the Park Lane Hilton. In 2017 he launched a system that taught prisoners about the hospitality industry.
The TV work happened gradually. He began with a show called Service for the BBC about a charity Fred had started in order to get disadvantaged children into education and then full-time employment. ‘People liked it, and I enjoyed it, and I pursued it because it's the same qualities, the same values, the same principles of what you need in restaurants to succeed. Basically, it’s about performing, being trusted and your reputation.’
He is now 53, and has two children from a previous relationship, a 16-year-old son and a 21-year-old daughter, Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, a diver for team GB who won a bronze medal with Lois Toulson in the 10-metre synchronised event at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He often appears on Celebrity Gogglebox with his wife (who he married last year) and who is known publicly only as ‘Fruitcake’.
Fred with his daughter Andrea at the 2024 Olympics.
Fred and his wife, who he affectionately refers to as 'Fruitcake'.
He went viral on I’m a Celebrity for clashing with Nigel Farage over Brexit, and again for consoling his daughter on TV when she narrowly missed out on a medal in the women’s 10-metre dive in 2024. When he is on screen with Gordan and Gino it is comedy gold. The trio seem to be funny no matter where they are or what they are doing — be it frolicking on a nudist beach in St Tropez or being forced to choke down rattlesnake tequila in Tijuana. Fred always has a lot of projects on the go. He is currently working on a campaign with Boursin Cheese which he calls ‘a real memory of France’ and which includes the cheesiest Christmas advert I have ever clamped my eyes on. He also has a beach club version of First Dates coming out this December, which he is very proud of. ‘It’s full of twists and turns,’ he says. ‘It’s quite incredible, the stories that start and what people think of each other.’ It also can’t have been far away from a piña colada and a poolside sun lounger, which I imagine may have helped
Your aesthetic hero
I like Jake Paul, because he’s got balls. He started from nothing and he’s fighting Anthony Joshua right now. He's created an empire. He's really confident, and he's going for it — and I really like that.
An exhibition that has really impressed you
Some of Lee Miller's photographs on display.
A couple of weeks ago I went to see an exhibition of the work of Lee Miller. She was a female correspondent during World War Two. She had a bath in Hitler's bath, she was part of the force that liberated a concentration camp, you know, she was quite a force. What I love about her is that she was persistent. She was a photographer at the time of Man Ray and she wanted to work with him, and he never wanted to work with her. She kept knocking on his door and in the end he took her as his assistant and they became lovers, so there you are.
The last thing of note you bought for yourself
I bought myself a few plants — four big trees, one of them a beautiful Japanese-style cherry tree — and 200 bulbs. It’s a Japanese theme, the phase one transformation of my garden. They are planted now, I'm looking at them and I'm very happy and satisfied. I can't tell you how happy I am. It was like Christmas yesterday.
Your favourite painting
It’s actually a picture, and it is in my house. I really love it, because when I look at it I just relax. It was taken by a photographer called Joe Howard. I have bought a few of his paintings and his photographs, and the last one I commissioned from him was a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night, because I had such a great time at the Olympics and it’s a great way to remember it.
A possession you’d never sell
The only things I think, maybe, are things of sentimental value, like the birthday cards from my children — things like that. Otherwise, I'm not really precious with my possessions. We come and we go. Today I'm here, tomorrow I might not be. It doesn't matter what I have. I think that we are too close to our possessions, I don't need much.
A book you’ve found inspiring
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
The music you work to
Reggae music.
The last podcast you listened to
The Rest is History. It was about the East India Company, how it was set up, and Robert Clive and all that — fascinating.
The person that would play you in a film of your life
Hmm… maybe [Timothée] Chalamet? But he would have to speak like me.
The thing that gets you up in the morning
I'm just happy to be alive. I wake up in the morning and I'm just so happy. I'm here, I'm alive. I'm so lucky to be here, to be healthy, to be well. Everybody's well, everybody's good around me, and it's beautiful. Nothing gets me up. Life. Being alive gets me up. I'm just motivated by being alive. I find it very nice.
The items you collect
I like to collect memories, good times. I have an obsession with having a good time. That's what I want to do every time, every day, all the time. I mean, I like to collect wines, I do buy a lot of wine, but I'd rather say memories.
A hotel you could go back and back to
There are so many, but one place I like to go back to is my friend's bed and breakfast. It's Le Bastit, in the Lot department in southwestern France. It’s an amazing bed-and-breakfast in the middle of nowhere in a place called Gramat, which is a little village, and the food is incredible. The region is so beautiful, and you can go anytime of the year, but I mean obviously spring and summer are amazing. It's just a haven for gastronomy.
The most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten
When I went home my mum made me my favourite recipe — which is everybody’s favourite recipe in the family, which is rabbit in a mustard sauce with french fries. You can go to any restaurant and look for a better one than my mum's and you won’t find it. I have looked, and it’s at a point now where if it’s on a restaurant menu I do not order it, because it can't be as good as my mum’s.
The best present you’ve ever received
I am not very materialistic, but probably this earring from my brother. I had a cheap stud for five euros and then he got me this diamond one.
