'Working in a restaurant kitchen is just like The Bear - it shows we deserve respect'

TV shows like The Bear give chefs the respect they 'deserve' according to a top Manchester chef. Former MasterChef winner Simon Wood, 47, says the drama-filled kitchens on the show are true to life.

Simon, a father of four from Saddleworth, Oldham, said: "I have seen all the things that happen on these shows at some point - even in the space of 40 minutes. People love the drama that comes with high-end hospitality, and I think it's all shown in drama TV programmes like The Bear and Boiling Point.

"It can be just as intense in real life. You get stressful moments where all the cheques arrive at once, or someone drops the sauce, burns the food and cuts their fingers."

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"The flare-ups between each other [are realistic]. Also, most definitely the shouting, swearing, raw intensity, you see in these programmes, I think, is all very factual - It's true to the life of a functioning kitchen."

The latest season of The Bear season was released last month and is about a young award-winning chef returning to his hometown, Chicago, to manage the chaotic kitchen in his dead brother’s sandwich shop. Simon was a data scientist for almost 20 years before he quit his job and took on a career in hospitality.

He became a professional chef aged 38 in 2015 when he won the amateur version of MasterChef. Since then, he has opened two restaurants, WOOD on First Street in Manchester, opened in 2017, then, WoodKraft, in Cheltenham, which opened in 2018. WOOD Manchester was Michelin-recommended in 2019 and has won the double AA Rosette award.

Simon says he related to the show because his busy restaurants serve upwards of 2,000 people on a weekly basis. He