Tom Parker Bowles is holidaying in Italy but confesses he's longing for Australia's sunny shores.
"I miss it dreadfully," the 40-year-old British food critic admits.
The famous son of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, spent nearly four months living in Bondi earlier this year while serving as a judge on Nine's cooking show The Hotplate.
"It was utterly joyous. It was lovely," he gushes.
"As someone who is fundamentally lazy and has an aversion to exercise, I found myself sort of running on the beach and drinking green juice."
Parker Bowles, along with Melbourne chef and now-friend Scott Pickett, spent months criss-crossing the country judging teams of professional restaurateurs on The Hotplate.
The pair travelled from Perth to country Victoria, judging anything from crayfish to soba noodles on the show which Seven alleged was a blatant copy of ratings success My Kitchen Rules.
Despite the drama and ensuing legal proceedings, The Hotplate stayed on air and will culminate in Wednesday night's grand finale.
When asked if he'd come back again, Parker Bowles doesn't need to think twice.
"If Channel Nine recommissioned the show and they would have me, I'd be over in a shot, of course."
"I'm someone who lives in London and loves London with all my heart, but if I could live anywhere else in the world, it would be Sydney."
It's easy to see why.
The father-of-two admits to being "obsessed" with Australia after eating his way around the country.
And despite being compared to MKR judge Pete Evans, Parker Bowles hates the paleo trend and can't stand fine dining.
"I'm not a believer in these ridiculous fad diets like paleo or whatever crap they come up with."
"I'm a food writer and a food critic and I hate food snobbery."
"I'm equally excited by a really good pie or Chicken Twisties as I am by the stuff at [Melbourne's] Vue De Monde.
Parker Bowles isn't a fan of manufactured television drama, either.
"The Hotplate is obviously reality food television, but for Scott and me, that's our job. I write about food and Scott cooks it."
"When I came out for the screen test for this job, Scott and I were both very, very clear.
"I said 'Obviously this is a food reality tv show with big characters, but when it comes to the two of us, we have to be able to give our opinion and be totally honest about our opinion'.
"If we were pushed into any sort of manipulation, we would have just said no and walked."
A big bloody Aussie Prawn pic.twitter.com/7miuUBBn4y— Tom Parker Bowles (@tomparkerbowles)
April 20, 2015
The result, Parker Bowles says, is a reality television grand final with "world class dishes".
"This is about professional, successful restaurants. These are pros, these are not amateurs like MKR."
"[Finalists] Emi and Marie and Aron and Vanessa never fail to impress me.
"I remember being endlessly and constantly impressed by Emi and Marie's attention to detail."
After admitting to being treated like "culinary royalty" from Melbourne's Chin Chin to Sydney's Chinatown, it's no wonder Parker Bowles is itching to return.
"Not exactly a difficult decision if the question is asked," he laughs.
The Hotplate grand final airs on Channel Nine on Wednesday, 2nd September at 7.30pm.
They must cook the meal of their lives to take out #TheHotplate's GRAND FINALE, TONIGHT 7.30pm on @Channel9! pic.twitter.com/B15z674cK8— #TheHotplate (@TheHotplate9)
September 2, 2015
