A FAN-FAVOURITE Saturday Kitchen star choked back tears as he paid tribute to his late “best mate” and fellow chef live on air.
The emotional scenes played out on the BBC One series, prompting a sympathetic “awww” from host Matt Tebbutt, 51, and the rest of the guests.
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Italian foodie Gennaro Contaldo‘s heartbreaking statement came after a light-hearted moment where he caused chaos on the Saturday Kitchen set.
Yet the humorous tone of the show quickly switched after he whipped up a dish with Matt and switched to a pre-recorded segment.
Matt introduced it and said: Gennaro, you are the star of this next film.
“Would you like to introduce it?”
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Gennaro, 75, replied: “Yeah, here is me and my best friend Antonio Carluccio in my home town Amalfi, cooking up a Neapolitan ragu.
“Antonio loved it so much.”
Holding up his hands to the sky, Gennaro added: “And I miss him so much.”
Matt said: “Awww,” before placing a hand on his heart.
He then urged: “Have a look,” as the duo’s cooking segment from yesteryear played out.
Antonio, who was dubbed the godfather of Italian gastronomy, passed away aged 80 in 2017.
It came after he suffered a fall at his home.
At the time, a statement from the chef’s agent stated: “It is with great sadness that we announce that Commendatore Antonio Carluccio OBE sadly passed away this morning.”
A regular on TV shows like Saturday Morning Kitchen, the chef was the founder of Carluccio’s restaurant chain, working it into a £90million empire with 90 restaurants and more than 3,200 employees.
He also received the Commendatore, the equivalent of a British knighthood, from the Italian government in 1998 for services to Italy.
KITCHEN CHAOS
Earlier in the episode Gennaro, who was mentor to Brit chef Jamie Oliver, cause chaos as he criticised Matt’s cooking.
Things took an hilarious turn when host Matt was showing actress Emilia Fox how to cook a risotto.
It all started as the presenter ran through his ingredients and mentioned that the dish would have cream in it.
Already sensing this would annoy celebrity chef Gennaro, with a smile on his face Matt held up the dairy to show him.
This was too much for the Italian, who DID NOT agree cream should ever be used in risotto.
He could be heard exclaiming: “Mamma mia! Stop there!
“Why would you want to put cream inside your risotto?
“Tell me? Why?”
Gennaro then walked over to the cooking are and snatched the cream away leaving Matt and Emilia in stitches.
As he confiscated the ingredient, he shook his head and said: “I am sorry!”
Yet Matt vowed to get the item back, leaving Gennaro to utter “Mamma Mia,” in objection.
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