From psychedelic rock star to the face of Australian television cooking
In short: Before he was a household name in kitchens across Australia, Iain "Huey" Hewitson was fronting psychedelic rock bands in New Zealand. The transition from singing hits in the 1960s to becoming a beloved television chef is a remarkable journey of reinvention that spans decades of media evolution.
Born on 4 October 1948, the New Zealand-born chef and restaurateur moved to Australia in 1972. While many recognize him as a staple of Network Ten, his early career was defined by music. During the 1960s, Hewitson was a folk singer and a member of bands such as Sebastian's Floral Array and Cellophane, both of which won New Zealand's Battle of the Bands. In 1969, his band Cellophane recorded four tracks at His Master's Voice studios, including the song "Mind Patterns," which Hewitson wrote himself.
His television career flourished through several decades of programming. Between 1992 and 1998, he appeared on the lifestyle show Healthy, Wealthy and Wise, and he served as a regular chef on the morning program GMA with Bert Newton until December 2005. He also hosted long-running series such as Huey's Cooking Adventures, which ran from 1997 to 2010, and Huey's Kitchen from 2010 to 2014. He even became a recognizable face for the supermarket chain BI-LO.
Hewitson has never been afraid of expressing his professional opinions. He has been critical of Gordon Ramsay, describing him as a bully, and has argued that the show Masterchef functions more as a game show than a genuine cooking program. After retiring from traditional television in 2019 due to the exhaustion of constant travel, he successfully transitioned to digital platforms. Following a suggestion from his daughter, Charlotte, he began uploading cooking videos to YouTube in 2017 and joined TikTok in May 2024, earning a nomination for Food Creator of the Year at the 2024 Australian TikTok Awards.
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