Colin Fassnidge makes his TV return after My Kitchen Rules break

Celebrity chef Colin Fassnidge is making his return to Aussie TV two years after he was last seen on My Kitchen Rules - and he’s promising one thing.

Celebrity chef Colin Fassnidge is making his return to Aussie TV two years after he was last seen on My Kitchen Rules.

And he’s taking a leaf out of outspoken Brit Gordon Ramsay’s book by hosting the Australian version of Kitchen Nightmares.

While Ramsay has a reputation for being a hothead, Fassnidge has vowed to be “firm but fair”.

Celebrity chef Colin Fassnidge will return to Channel 7 to host a new show called Kitchen Nightmares, pictured at Banksia Bistro at The Banksia Hotel. Picture: Toby Zerna

“Sometimes chefs, myself included, are not the brightest when it comes to money,” Fassnidge told Kitchen Confidential.

“You want to get the best ingredients on the plate, the best food no matter what it costs. But at the end of the day, if you are spending more than you are making, your business is gone and that is the penny that has to drop with a lot of people.”

The series will premiere on Seven later this year and will be shot in eateries across Australia.

Ramsay — for whom Fassnidge previously worked at his Boxwood Cafe restaurant in Chelsea — hosted seven seasons of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares in the UK and a further seven in the US.

Dozens of international versions have been produced over the years, from Slovakia to Norway, Chile and Brazil.

“If you are after a show screaming and shouting in people’s faces, that is not what I want to do,” he said at his By Fassnidge restaurant at The Banksia Hotel.

“I am a lot older now. Maybe 10 years ago I was like that but not now. I don’t think anyone wants to see me go in at this time with the hospitality industry on its knees and be screaming and shouting at people.”

Gordon Ramsay on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge on My Kitchen Rules.

The expat Irishman rose to national fame with his raw, frank and often funny approach as a judge on My Kitchen Rules, which returns to the network later this year after a two year break.

“Even me as a restaurateur is having a hard time, there is no one that is actually killing it at the moment,” he said. “It is a very tough industry to be in so anything you can do to make it better and help someone, how good is that?”

The format will see Fassnidge take on an emergency restaurant rescue each week, providing tough love along the way in a bid to help turn around flagging fortunes.

“I don’t think there will be any fine dining, maybe restaurants that think they are fine dining,” he said. “Is your business doing what the area needs? Are you doing the right food? A lot of people try and do fine dining in a mum and dad restaurant that people don’t want to eat. After lockdown, people know how to cook now and they expect a lot more.”