Hell's Kitchen

07 April 2009, 15:02

Jody Latham
Age: 23

Food Heaven: “Fish, salmon and prawns and scallops – I love all fish.”
Food Hell:  “Just one thing - Brussels sprouts.”

Actor Jody Latham is not looking forward to the “hard graft” of working non stop in a busy kitchen but is planning on keeping his head down and making sure he gets through the first week “in one piece”. 

“I’m just thinking of getting the job done, I’m going to be trying not think about the cameras and the whole aspect of it being a show.  I just want to get the job done that we are there to do and keep Marco happy. 

“I’m serious man, I want to avoid getting that serious bollocking, try my best to keep my mouth shut and keep my head down and get on with the work that we’ve been told to do.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep up as well and I’m not used to hard graft – we spend most of our non-working days sitting on X-boxes waiting for phones to ring and lying in bed until 12.

“I do respect the guy [Marco Pierre White], I just hope I don’t come face to face with him, I don’t want a confrontation…I’ve never met him before I think he’s a passionate man, he’s passionate about food, he’s passionate about business, I like that…there is no subtext with him, I think what he says what he thinks, he gets to the point.

“I’m not easily intimidated and I can take criticism.  If it’s my fault, I’ll hold my hands up and I’ll admit to it.  I’m not into backstabbing so they’ll be none of that going on in the group…I’ll apologise and if I get made to look like an absolute idiot if it’s my own fault then I’ll accept it but just get on with the job.  I just want to make sure I get through that first week in one piece!”

Having recently opened his own restaurant, the Shameless star decided to take part in the show to pick up some tips from the Michelin star chef.   

“I’ve got a restaurant opening myself and I don’t have much experience in the industry and I figured there’s no time like the present to learn and there’s no better person to learn from than Marco really. There are a couple of us involved, none of us really have an idea about it, we just went ahead and did it.  It’s in Barrowford in Lancashire, it’s called Jack’s and is basically gastro-come-traditional English.  We’re using simple food, locally sourced produce, keeping it simple but traditional, think classic favourites. 

“To me it’s more about learning the whole concept of the business and how it runs. I think to watch him [Marco] in the kitchen and watch how he is as a mentor and as a teacher and as a professional chef running a kitchen and having an opportunity to learn from that - how he runs his kitchen, how he runs his front of house, with Nick.

“Obviously we’re going to get an opportunity to do that this year which is different to last year’s format, which is great for me.  I’ll get more of an idea of how it works getting to go front of house and dealing directly with the customers, I like getting involved in that.”

Jody admits to being better than average at cooking and is a dab hand at making a curry.  With a limited range of things he can cook, the actor is confident he knows just want the customer wants.  

“[My cooking is] better than average but I’m quite confident.  I don’t have many dishes on my menu list but the ones I do, I do well - I make some fantastic curries, different styles and flavours, I get a lot of requests for curries.  I like doing stuff people can share, like good old traditional stuff, like Shepherds Pie and Lancashire Hotpot and casseroles.

“I love all foods; I can eat anything, traditional English, Italian.  Italian is one of my favourites.  I know it sounds corny but I love food, I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed but I can eat a lot of food... I try and cook once a week if possible, sometimes more often.  I’ve been doing it quite a lot now since I found out I’ve been doing Hell’s Kitchen.  I don’t do as much as I’d like but I’m busy. A lot of my evenings I spend in hotels. 

“What I do do a lot of is eating out so I know what to expect in a good meal, you know from whether it’s value for quality or for produce.  I know what I like and I know what’s good, it’s not always the price that you pay for a meal is it?”

The straight talking actor admits to being outspoken and is hoping to prove people wrong and not “get into a right barney.”  

“As long as there’s no idiots there, I can get on with most people, I’m not one for whinging and backstabbing, if I’ve got something to say I’ll have it out if I don’t like someone.

“I’m just quite outspoken and I won’t take any sh*t, as long as no one gets on the wrong side of me for no reason.  If I get on someone’s back, if I rub someone up the wrong way, I expect a bit of beef but my intention right now is not to do that but you can’t say it’s not going to happen.

“We’re going to be living together and spending 12-14 hours in the kitchen and someone’s got to p*ss someone off.  I just don’t want to be involved in it.  Usually I’m stuck right in the bloody middle of it, I want to prove everyone wrong.  Everyone is expecting me to get in a right barney, they’re all saying ‘you can’t keep your mouth shut, you’ll misbehave, you’ll be storming off’, that’s not me, I’m a pussycat.”

Last updated: 24 April 2009, 11:05