A lot on his plate! COLIN'S KIWI COOK UP

The TV chef gives us a taste of family life and what he's dishing up in NZ

- Catherine Milford

On screens, Colin Fassnidge is the tough but lovable chef who puts contestants and restaurateurs through their paces on popular TV shows My Kitchen Rules and Kitchen Nightmares. At home, however, the Irishturned-Australian dad of two girls says he's normally the one who gets the hardest time - especially in the kitchen.

"Like most Irish people, I came to Australia for a holiday and never left, apart from a couple of trips back home to work with Gordon Ramsay for a while," says Colin in his trademark Dublin accent. "Now Sydney is my home, along with my wife Jane, and our two girls, Lilly, 13, and Maeve, 12.

"They don't cut me any slack at all when I'm cooking for them. If I don't get the crackling on the pork just right or if they don't like something I've made - say there's too much butter on it or too many veg - they'll make sure I know about it. I get payback, though.

I put loads of greens in the spaghetti Bolognese to keep their iron levels up." Colin clearly adores his girls, but like any parent, having kids in what he calls the "fun zone" of pre teenagerhood is a challenge.