This week The Whitehaven News has been speaking to a famous celebrity chef.
Jean-Christophe Novelli spoke to us this week about the time he has spent in Whitehaven, what he likes about the area and what are some of his fondest memories.
He is a well-known chef who has appeared on a number of hit TV shows including Hell's Kitchen, Cooking with the Stars, and Celebrity Hunted.
Back when Whitehaven used to host regular festivals on the harbourside Jean-Christophe was a familiar face who would often come along and host live cooking shows for audiences.
During his time on the hit Channel 4 show Celebrity Hunted he also spent time hiding in Whitehaven, and it was with the help of locals that he was able to evade capture and go on to win the show.
He explained how he met local businessmen Gerard Richardson and his wife Dianne and they became close friends around 20 years ago and went on to work on the festivals which were organised by Gerard.
Mr Novelli said: "When I turned up to the first day of the festival which was a three-day festival which is very rare, it was on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
"I have never seen anything like it before in my life it was phenomenal, gigantic, it was even scary, especially on Sunday, people just kept flowing in and they were enjoying themselves."
He continued: "When I visited Gerard's house I saw a picture of him and the Queen in Whitehaven, you could see the Queen was quite chatty with him.
"It was a privilege, I came from very far the first time I came to Whitehaven it was a seven-hour drive.
"By the time the festival had finished and I was heading home everything seemed so boring because I had such a good time in Whitehaven."
Jean Christophe compared his experience of visiting Whitehaven to winning Michelin stars, he explained that it was a 'pinnacle' of his work.
Mr Novelli said: "Since my first time visiting Whitehaven I've probably been back around 35 times.
"In September 2021 I received a letter signed by Queen Elizabeth who sadly passed away announcing that I was awarded an MBE.
"I was questioning why and of course I was very pleased and excited, all of my family were shocked.
"It was so wonderful, probably one of the best things in my life, it may have been better than winning Michelin Stars."
He was awarded the MBE for his services to charity over the years.
Jean-Christophe went on to explain that whilst taking part in Celebrity Hunted he hid in Whitehaven.
He explained that he was heading up the motorway with hunters coming from the south and Scotland and decided to take a detour into Cumbria.
During his time here he stayed at a number of locations including Gerard's house and also spent time on the harbour.
He had needed to get to Hastings in Kent to win the show and was given transport by Gerard's son which resulted in him succeeding in the contest.
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