Former TV chef Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson becomes Tik Tok sensation

Ten years after he retired from television, chef Ian Hewitson has had success in a surprising new field.

Who said you can’t teach an old dog, new tricks?

Former TV chef Iain “Huey” Hewitson, best known for appearing on Channel 10 until he retired in 2014, has found a new career path on social media platform TikTok, and his success has surprised everyone. Including himself.

Nearly 100,000 people follow the 76-year-old’s cooking videos, which he said is aimed at teaching people the basics.

His video showing people how to cook the perfect scrambled egg has been seen close to a million times and he’s been nominated for TiKTok’s Food Creator of the Year.

“Not bad for an old feller,” Hewitson told The Daily Telegraph.

Iain “Huey” Hewitson was a regular on television in the early 2000s.

Hewiston was famous for appearing on Channel 10’s Huey’s Cooking Adventures and Huey’s Kitchen. After 25 years in the business he retired in 2014.

After being kicked off the couch by his wife, Hewiston made a YouTube series before his daughter Charlotte, 23, decided to start filming him for TikTok.

Former television chef ‘Huey’ is now a breakout star on TikTok.

Huey's TikTok of him making scrambled eggs has been seen nearly a million times

Hewiston describes himself as “technologically hopeless” and doesn’t have a mobile phone, computer or doesn’t drive so his success is even more astounding.

“Dad has been doing YouTube for a while and wasn’t understanding why people weren’t finding him, I mentioned making him a TikTok account and the rest is history,” Charlotte said.

Hewiston said while he loves shows like MasterChef, he’s always been about teaching people the easy basics to get them into the fresh food section of the grocery store.

“My daughter explained that short, succinct, simple style suits TikTok,” he said. “And it reminds me of my early days in TV. It’s warts and all.”

@huey_on_tiktok

Here’s the recipe for MY perfect scrambled eggs 🍳👨🏻‍🍳

♬ original sound - Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson

There was an assumption that because of the younger demographic of the social media platform, that no one would recognise Hewiston from his television days.

However he was wrong.
“People started coming out of the woodwork saying they remembered watching me on TV when they came home from school,” he said.

Hewitson, seen here during filming for Huey’s Cooking Adventures in 2007, said TikTok is like the early days of filming TV. Where is wasn’t polished and not overly edited.

Charlotte adds his success is due to the fact he doesn’t look like a natural TikTokker. “He appeals to a demographic that aren’t always targeted on TikTok, which I think makes them especially invested. People can watch his videos and be brought back to their childhoods where watching him when they came home from school was a highlight of their day,” she said.

His success on the platform has brought in sponsorship and partnership opportunities, as well as seen him be nominated in this week’s TikTok Awards.

“It’s all very flattering,” he said.