Manu homes in on new show

He may have left his homeland at the age of 18 to pursue his dream of becoming an international chef but *Manu Feildel *will always be a Frenchman at heart.

Following his success as a judge on Seven's reality cooking series My Kitchen Rules, the suave TV personality will next give viewers a taste of his mother country in a new two-part series where he journeys around the French province of Brittany by seaplane, canoe and even a donkey while sharing memories, recipes and adventures along the way.

Part cooking show, part travel documentary, My France with Manu will give an insight into Feildel's formative years, where he broke from the family chef tradition and joined the circus.

Set to premiere next month, the series is said to reveal the real Manu, away from his other TV and cooking ventures.

Meanwhile, My Kitchen Rules is set to receive a twist of its own when a competition first sends the contestants around the country once more for what is being dubbed the "ultimate instant restaurant round".

Teams usually get to breathe a brief sigh of relief when they arrive in Kitchen Headquarters, confident that they don't need to withstand the pressure-cooker environment that comes with having both their rivals and the judges over for dinner at their own home.

But after challenges with food trucks and sudden-death cook-offs, the wannabe chefs will put their newfound experience to the test in an upcoming episode and they return to their own kitchens for the ultimate decider.