Whatever happened to Surprise Chef host Aristos Papandroulakis?
Surprise Chef gave Australia its first taste of reality TV cooking, with host Aristos proving a ratings bonanza. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened after turning down an offer from a rival network.
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In the early 2000s, long before COVID-19, there was another reason to avoid visiting the supermarket.
Aaron ‘Aristos’ Papandroulakis, dressed in his chef whites, lurked the aisles of your local to spy on unsuspecting shoppers for a look inside their trolleys and baskets.
Once he found a willing customer, he’d invite himself back to their house to cook a surprise meal for their family.
The catch? He could only use ingredients found in the trolley, fridge and pantry.
Surprise Chef was Australia’s first taste of a reality cooking show and a TV ratings bonanza, pulling half a million views in it’s Sunday night prime time slot from 2001 to 2003.
But after three seasons, spin-off shows, a cookbook and Logie nomination, the TV chef’s career ended abruptly.
So what happened to Aristos?
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Aristos’ passion for restaurants and cooking came early.
He worked at Rex Cafe in suburban Perth, first opened by his grandfather and then taken over by his father, before he opened his own ‘Aristos’ in 1992.
“I went to America for a holiday, and came across Emeril Lagasse (US TV Chef), and I knew I wanted to be just like him,” he said.
Aristos scored his first presenting gig after approaching some TV executives who regularly ate at his restaurant.
“I knew all the execs from Ten and Nine who used to come in and I’d asked one of them if there was a chance I could do some presenting,” he said.
“At first they said ‘no’, but then one day he came back in and offered me a spot on ‘Just Add Water’ (a Perth lifestyle show). That turned into eight to nine episodes a year.”
Aristos then went on to present on Postcards WA, and eventually was contacted by Channel 7 to audition for a new TV show in 2001.
SYDNEY CALLING
Aristos was flown to Sydney to audition for a new lifestyle show, but he had know idea what he was getting into.
“I auditioned thinking it would be a Better Homes and Gardens type show,” he said.
“Then they told me it was Surprise Chef, which was based on a format from England.”
Surprise Chef was a first for Aussie TV — it was the only reality cooking show of it’s kind and was aired in Seven’s Sunday night timeslot.
Contrary to what many thought, Aristos said the surprises on the show were authentic.
“Well 99 per cent of them were surprises. You’d take some poetic licence, but all of those confronted in the aisles were punters doing their best,” he said.
At the other end of the show the surprises continued when Aristos revealed to the family what he’d cooked for dinner.
He said the unsuspecting spouse or family member, who was blindfolded and whisked from their car to the dining room for dinner, was oblivious to what was happening.
“They honestly had no idea. Back in those days, there were no mobile phones, so it wasn’t like there was a kid upstairs texting mum or dad about what was happening,” he said.
Aristos said a lot of the show’s success came from being relatable to Australian families at the time.
“It related back to mums who’d have to deal with the kids asking at 4pm each day what was for dinner,” he said.
“So she’d look in the fridge or pantry and always whip up something magnificent. It was that type of cooking people like to watch.”
One of Aristos’ favourites was in 2003, where he’d surprise community groups with dinner.
“I remember we did an episode with world champion wrestlers and I had to dress up as a wrestler. Then we did another where all these people from a medieval community wearing robes and swords.”
“The last series, I think I loved the best. We had a great crew and camera operator,” he said.
FALLEN STAR
Surprise Chef averaged 530,000 viewers per week, placing it among Seven’s top five shows back in 2001. Around that time Aristos renewed his contact with the Seven Network until 2003.
A year before his contract ended, Surprise Chef was nominated for a Logie for Most Popular Lifestyle Program, but missed out to Backyard Blitz.
At the time there was buzz Aristos would score a Best New Male Talent at the Logies, but that never eventuated.
Aristos released his first cookbook ‘Cooking With Aristos’, in the same year, and appeared in spin-off shows, Aristos: Greece is the Grouse!, BYO Kitchen and in The Great Outdoors with Shelley Craft.
Off the camera, 2002 for Aristos was met with emotional highs and lows.
He sold his Perth restaurant to focus on his television career, became engaged to his now wife, Ally, and lost his father.
But nothing could have prepared Aristos for what would happen next.
“I was offered a job at Nine, but turned it down because of my loyalty to Seven,” he said.
“Then one day Seven woke up and decided to not renew my contract.”
Aristos said while the axing is ‘water under the bridge now’, at the time it was life changing.
When asked why Seven didn’t renew the star of their highest ratings show’s contract, he said it was just showbiz.
“What happens is you learn that your career is in the hands of a couple of people in a board room,” he said.
“That’s all passed now, but at the time nobody wants to be told that. It’s a hard pill to swallow.”
“I’d changed my whole life. I sold the restaurant to work as a media personality. I was doing public appearances, had released a cookbook and had another in reserve, then all of a sudden it was all gone.”
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
Aristos had to rebuild his life after his shock axing from Seven.
Thankfully he hadn’t moved from Perth for the Surprise Chef gig and managed to open a seafood restaurant, Aristos Waterfront at Bunbury, soon after. He continues to run that restaurant today.
Aristos is also the chief executive of Aristos Group, which includes wholesaler Aristos Seafood Training and iCatcher Digital Signs.
Today he lives with wife Ally and daughter Ariana, 16 and Sophia 14.
He occasionally still gets stopped in the street from Surprise Chef fans and is almost always on cooking duty at dinner parties.
But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
2020 is the year for reality TV show reboots, with the return of Big Brother, but Aristos can’t see Surprise Chef ever returning.
“I don’t think it’ll be the same. There’s a lot of cooking shows out there at the moment,” he said.
Even if Aristos was asked to host a rebooted version, he wouldn’t.
“They say ‘never say never’, but I’d say no. I’m happy doing what I’m doing and had enough challenges in my life,” he said.
“I have a good balance in my life now. People ask if I miss it and for a split second I do.”
“It’s like asking a chef if they miss being in a busy kitchen on a Saturday night. You do miss it, but only for a minute.”
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