The Middle East’s
Jamie Oliver
Introducing Saudi Arabia’s most unlikely TV star
WORDS | ALEX RAYNER
SEAN REDMOND DOESN’T SEE HIMSELF AS A TV CHEF. “In reality what I have done is present programmes about Saudi culture and cooking,” explains the English-born linguist who has become an surprise Arabian TV star, “with someone else cooking.”
Yet this hasn’t stopped British papers dubbing him the Jamie Oliver of Saudi Arabia. His show, The Saudi Home with Sean, on the country’s Channel 2, features him in full-length thobe and ghutra headscarf, discussing, in a variety of Arabian dialects, the traditions of Saudi cooking and domesticity. Fans not only remark on the delicious-looking dishes, but also the ease with which Redmond speaks in the dialects of the peninsula.
“I’ve always found imitating accents easy,” he explains, “and can switch between English and different dialects quite quickly. People find that unusual.”
Born in Norfolk in 1974 to an Irish father and a Maltese mother, Redmond took a course in Arabic and Spanish studies at Manchester University; he also worked at an Italian restaurant north of Great Yarmouth during his college holidays.
Converting to Islam in 1993, Redmond learned to speak Arabic in Egypt. He first settled in Kuwait, working as a teacher, before taking a training coordinator position for a British company in Riyadh. His TV debut in 2006 came about quite by chance.
“A friend of a friend worked in Saudi TV. They were keen to find an Arabic-speaking expat,” he explains, “I started with a few guest appearances and then got a show.”
Though he’s kept his day job, Redmond has presented Saudi interiors and cookery shows – showing people how to make traditional dishes, pictured above – and he is preparing a travel series with a leading Middle Eastern channel.
“That should take me to plenty of countries beyond the Arabic-speaking world,” he says. But don’t expect any awkward silences: “I also speak French, Spanish, Persian and a bit of Italian, a few phrases of Turkish, as well as Urdu. I’ve never had a fear of trying to speak a language.” Polyglot foodies should stay tuned.
Photography: Peter Cassidy © Ryland Peters & Small
