Meet Plaxy, Giorgio Locatelli's Wife: Discover Their Family and Kids!

TOP chef and TV foodie Giorgio Locatelli is starring as the judge of the next series of Celebrity MasterChef.

The replaces John Torode.

is set to spearhead the alongside food critic Grace Dent

Grace and front the non-celebrity version MasterChef.

A source exclusively told The Sun: “It’s time for a new era for and bosses think Giorgio is the perfect fit.

“He has a wealth of experience in the restaurant industry and has plenty of personality.”

Here we get to know new host Giorgio and his wife Plaxy.

Who is Giorgio Locatelli?

Giorgio was born on April 6, 1963, in Corgeno, northern .

He started in the hospitality industry when he was very young – his uncle ran Michelin-starred restaurant La Cinzianella, with Giorgio helping out in the kitchen from the age of five.

Giorgio was in the army in his youth, before working in a number of kitchens across Italy and Switzerland.

In 1986, he moved to London and joined as an apprentice under head chef .

He then relocated to Paris in 1990, working at Restaurant Laurent and La Tour d’Argent.

After just three years in the French capital, Giorgio came back to London as the head chef at Olivo, Eccleston Street.

In February 1995, he left this post to open his own spot Zafferano in Belgravia.

It won Best Italian Restaurant at the London Carlton Restaurant Awards two years consecutively, before landing him his first Michelin star in 1999.

Giorgio opened Spighetta, Blandford Street, in July 1997 – and Spiga, Wardour Street, in March 2009.

[Giorigio] turned up [to our first date] with a bunch of droopy flowers that had been wilting in the kitchen all day

Plaxy Locatelli, The Telegraph

He left Zafferano in 2001 and the other two restaurants have since shut up shop.

Giorgio went on to become a TV regular, featuring on shows including the BBC’s and E4’s Celebrity Cooking School, as well as being a judge on MasterChef Italia.

Who is Giorgio Locatelli’s wife Plaxy?

Born Plaxy Cornelia Exton in London in May 1964, Giorgio’s wife spent part of her youth in before returning to the UK aged 14.

She worked as a waitress and set organiser for music videos and magazines in Camden.

Plaxy met in 1989, but their first date didn’t go well.

In 2010, she told the Telegraph: “The first week we met I invited him round for dinner.

“I was vegetarian then and made some awful vegetable thing, which I’d never made before, then filled a pineapple with fruit, which looked horrific.

“He turned up with a bunch of droopy flowers that had been wilting in the kitchen all day.”

Even so, they sparked a lasting connection and love found its way – they married in 1995 after getting engaged three years earlier.

In 2002, Giorgio and his wife Plaxy opened Locanda Locatelli on Seymour Street, London, which quickly became a celebrity haunt.

The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2003, and retained the title every year since until its closure in January 2025.

But fear not food fans, in May 2025 the couple opened another eponymous eatery at a different location – Locatelli at The National Gallery.

Giorgio and Plaxy have two grown-up kids and live with their dog Olive in , north London.

They share a daughter named Margherita, known as Dita, and son Jack – Plaxy’s boy from a previous relationship.