rick's fears
TV chef Rick Stein says he’s ‘not going to last much longer’ after open heart surgery and health struggle
The chef's restaurant business has been struggling in the last few years, losing £1.2million in 2022
CULINARY legend Rick Stein has said he doesn't think "he has much longer" after having open heart surgery.
In 2022 Rick, 77, was told he would die without having the major operation after he struggled with breathlessness.
2
The TV chef has fully recovered from the procedure but says the traumatic experience has made him aware of his mortality.
He said that despite this, he is determined to live life to the full and enjoy the time he has.
In an interview with he said: "Having had the operation and recovered, the improvement in my health has left me tremendously optimistic.
"Even though at my age and with the normal realities of life I’m not going to last that much longer, I think as long as you’ve got your health and you’re optimistic generally and enjoying your life, you don’t tend to ponder too much about how little life you’ve got left."
read more on rick stein
He said that he was hit with the realisation that there was a chance he could not make it through the operation and would be none the wiser due to the anesthetic.
The chef explained how he was "stopped in his tracks" ahead of his operation and said that it gave him a chance to "review his life".
He said how his lungs were "sort of flattened" during the procedure and said that he imagined it was a similar pain to childbirth.
thriving business has taken a huge hit since covid and in 2022 he lost more than £1.2million.
Most read in TV
The Padstow-based chef owns ten seafood restaurants in the UK, where a serving of fish and chips costs £16.95.
Rick blamed the huge loss on the lasting effects of Covid, less visitors to Cornwall and soaring fish and energy costs.
Stein recently started charging £2 for condiments such as mayonnaise and tartare sauce in his Padstow restaurants, where fish and chips costs £16.95.
The holiday hotspot is nicknamed Padstein due to the number of businesses he has there.
Accounts show the unnamed best paid director of the firm still took home a £180,000 salary.
In 2021, Stein said he had been close to going under.
He said: “It was very scary and we nearly lost the whole business.
Stein’s umbrella company The Seafood Restaurant (Padstow) which includes restaurants, hotels, online and high street shops and a cookery school also reported losses of £347,000 for the year compared with a £3.8million profit in 2022.
But the document published by Companies House last week shows the holding company still has £14.5million in its coffers.
2
Topics